Hymn of the Fallen
by AlBhedCecdanc
Summary: The Mecha Wars between Zanarkand and Bevelle ended in the form of a Great Demon which made enemies become allies and friends become outcasts. The story of the first TRUE High Summoner. (Link to extra site with character sketches)
1. Prelude

Prelude

_The little boy didn't notice the man in the red coat, standing like a statue amidst the teaming crowd waiting outside the Zanarkand Stadium. In his exhilaration, the little boy barely even noticed his father and brother beside him. He bounced on the balls of his feet, his small body humming with excitement. All he could actually see were long legs and bright clothes, but he was part of the crowd, like a cell in a huge body. He didn't think the noise could get much louder but he was proved wrong when the world exploded into screams and cheers. He tried jumping but still could not crest the sea of backs and shoulders he was looking at._

_Two large hands grabbed him suddenly around the waist and hoisted him up into the air. He landed on his father's broad shoulders and suddenly he could see to the end of the world, or so it seemed. His small, tireless fingers tapped a rapid cadence along the sides of his father's goggles while he strained his own goggles to magnify the walk in the distance._

_He saw hands waving and he followed the hands down to arms and the arms to shoulders and heads. Then he saw him, toward the end of the team line. A head of spiky blond hair, a flash of blue eyes and a huge million-gil grin to go with it all._

"_I can see him, Vydran! I can see him!" the boy cried out. His father patted his leg and his big brother stuck his tongue out. _

_The Abes were his favorite team even though they only had two Engineer players. His father and brother were rooting for the other team but they allowed him to favor the Abes. He was young. He didn't know any better._

_He waved his hands frantically, trying to get his favorite player's attention but he was only lost in the crush of adoring faces and Tidus passed into the stadium doors without noticing his number one fan. That was okay. Surely he'd notice on his way back out, after the Abes had won the title._

_It seemed like forever but the crowd finally began to move toward the front gates of the stadium. The boy clutched his ticket tightly as he hummed to himself. After longer yet, their tickets were finally taken and they head for their seats._

_Big brother got food and they all snacked. Then, in a burst, the music began. Machinery began to move and whirl as the water-harnessing began. Father explained what was happening as it happened. It was only right as father was an Engineer and machines were what people in his class did._

_The boy tried to pay attention to the mechanics. Engineering was his future after all, but he could only see magic in how the water splashed and churned and filled the invisible sphere with liquid. The players stepped up to the platforms, all on one gigantic ring that ran the circumference of the water field, waiting for the game to start._

_Stats were read off amidst advertisements and the players took a breath and stepped into the sphere. They swam to their own sides and entered formation. A huge siren ripped through the stadium. The game was on._

_It was amazing. The Abes scored on the Duggles within moments to the upset of the crowd. The Engineer team from C-South were kicked into high gear then, realizing that the Abes were playing for keeps. For the next four minutes, they kept the blitzball on the run until the Abes won it back._

_The boy recognized the set up almost before anyone else. He saw Benther, the Abes forward, to a two and a half spin and shoot the blitzball straight up. Tidus moved at the same time, speed swimming for the pole of the sphere faster than seemed possible. The ball broke the sphere before him, shooting up into the sky, water spraying off it's blue and white skin._

_Tidus breeched the water and flipped in the air, his shooting foot moving up to met the blitzball on it's way back down after gravity assumed control again. It would have been the perfect shot._

_Then the world exploded._

_The sound drowned out the boy's screams along with the cries of all in the stadium. It might have been a bomb, the way the ground shook and the tallest pillars exploded into the finest bits of dust._

_People were running before they even realized they were scared. He felt his father grab him and turn. In a moment of clarity, the boy strained to look for Tidus who had, moments ago, been up in midair. He didn't see his favorite player, but he did see the water sphere disintegrating, the players inside desperately swimming for the ring. They wouldn't make it._

_What followed was a blur. The boy was carried by his father and he saw his brother beside them. But somewhere in the chaos, big brother was lost. Father stopped and cried from him but his fear went unnoticed in the stampede around them._

_Outside the stadium, buildings were falling like rain, raindrops of stone crushing entire groups of people. Father fell once and the boy tumbled to the ground, scrapping his hands against broken glass and concrete. Before he could cry in pain, father grabbed him up by the back of his tunic and they were off again._

_Only once did the boy raise his eyes and he would forever wish he hadn't. Around him was war and destruction. Around him was Armageddon. People screaming, crying, dying. And in the sky floated death: a sphere a hundred times larger than any water field. From inside the sphere shot pulses and flashes, the center of the assult on Zanarkand._

_Something crashed down right beside them and the boy was thrown to the ground again. This time he picked himself up and turned to his father. He was no where to be seen._

_Suddenly, his fear of dying gave way to the only fear more terrifying for a child: the fear of being lost._

"_Vydram? Vydran!?" his bloody fingers scrambled as his face and ripped the goggles off to clear his vision. "VYDRAN!?!" he screamed into the smoke._

_In the second before the parapet hit him, the boy saw part of his father, crushed beneath a blitzball statute of Jecht, the most famous Blitzer of all time. Then all he knew was a pain in his knees and nothing below them. All he saw was smoke and darkness. Then, darkness was all there was._


	2. A Few Years Later

This is Lore's and my first fan fiction, so be gentle.

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We don't own final fantasy X, but the original characters are all ours. Please no stealing!! They're our babies.

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Part I

Chapter 1

A FEW YEARS LATER

"Luca! The hell you doin' playing in the dirt again?"

Luca looked up to see his best friend and adoptive brother, Noobin, standing over him. He was cleaning his oil stained hands off with a rag. "How come you get to draw pictures while I have to work my ass off?"

Luca looked down at the design he'd scrawled in the dirt with his finger, the tune in his head fading at the distraction. It all looked like gibberish now, just a bunch of circles and intersecting lines. Luca stood with a sigh and kicked his boot through the dirt, scattering the symbol. The tune had completely left his head now.

"And what's the point of having goggles if you're not going to use them?" Noobin grabbed the goggles that Luca wore on his forehead and snapped them. Luca flinched at the sting.

"It bleaches out color. I don't like wearing them," Luca rubbed his forehead, shoulders curled forward in shame.

"Gah! You're an engineer! Not and artist! Color. Geez. Come on!" Noobin rolled his eyes at the younger man and threw a ratchet at his feet. "Help me with this."

Luca bent down and grabbed the ratchet, then followed Noobin into the garage where a cacophony of sounds assailed them. The high pitch squeals of circular saws, the low growl of engines. The scent of motor oil was like a thick layer of grime over everything. Engineers ran around, working on their separate projects, too distracted to notice anyone else.

Noobin led Luca to the back corner of the garage where the student engineers were allowed to set up shop and tinker. Parked in Noobin's designated work space was a large craft without wheels. It was lifted three feet into the air. Tools lay scattered under its base.

"...Hey, isn't that Head Engineer Wedge's hoover craft?"

"Yup," Noobin admitted as he moved over to a huge crate that was blocking off half his work space. "Here, help me move this."

Luca stared wide eyed at the craft. He wandered over and looked at Noobin from across the crate. "What's wrong with it?"

"It doesn't hover. Stop jabbering and grab that side. We lift on three."

Luca stooped down and stuck his fingers into the lift grip along the bottom. He positioned himself, knees bent.

"And three!"

Luca lifted with his knees, his arms straining. Noobin's side seemed to come up with him, but it started to drop a bit. "Hurry, to the left."

Luca moved the box where instructed and carefully set it down. Noobin stood up from the other side, panting, red faced.

"Lose any digits?" Luca questioned with an amused smirk.

"Shut it," Noobin growled before walking into the newly freed space. "Just cuz you've got superior legs doesn't make you better."

Luca shrugged and wandered over. At his first step, something in his left knee clicked and he felt a shudder start. "Aw crap."

"You break it already?" Noobin glanced down at Luca's legs when he heard the pained mechanical sound it was making.

"The left ones been on the fritz for nearly a week now," Luca shook his leg but it didn't help. "Yesterday morning it froze up on me. Nearly fell on my face trying to get out of bed."

Noobin placed his hand on the work table. "Hop up. I'll give it a look."

Luca jumped up onto the table, his legs, fully mechanical from the knees down, dangling off the edge. Noobin pulled up a chair and grabbed his small machine tool set and started working on the left knee. The leg shuddered slightly, as though shaken by a muscle spasm.

"Alright, I see it. It's just a pinched wire. Watch, so you know how to do this." Noobin removed the front knee plate to more easily move around inside. A small blue wire had gotten caught in the steel ball joint that allowed a normal walking cantor. He pulled it loose and straightened it. The shudder stopped. "Geez, these wire are already going bare. You walk too much."

"Pardon me. Can we get them re-coated?"

"Sure, but it's pointless. Vydran is working on your permanent pair. You'll stop outgrowing these things soon and you can get your perms. They're much better constructed than this. They won't have any of these little glitches."

"Sounds good." Finally, permanent legs. He'd had six different pairs since he's first lost his own legs at the age of seven. He'd just kept outgrowing them, but at eighteen, his growth spurt had slowed and mostly stopped. He'd shot up to 6'2" with a thin frame that weighed 212 pounds; 50 of those pounds from his lower legs alone.

"I'm gonna check on the hydraulics while I'm down here," Noobin warned as he pulled out tools.

"Fine...so why can't H.E. Wedge fix his own hovercraft?"

"No time. He's busy working in the building plans for Home."

Home. Luca felt butterflies in his stomach. The name that had been decided on for the Engineer Refuge was so simple but so perfect. Just nine years ago, when the Engineers had fled to the desert to avoid genocide, there had been nothing here but sand and a few Dolian tribes, the hermanic desert people native to Bikanel Island. Now there was a small city, growing every year. In the center were the beginnings of a large central structure. Every man and woman had to donate time to the building of Home. It would be another estimated ten years before Home would be completed and the population of the Engineer city could move into its beehive homes. Luca couldn't wait to get out of the harsh extremes of the desert. By then he'd be able to have his own apartment. Not that he didn't love his adopted parents, but he couldn't wait to move out and be an adult.

Having been lost in his thoughts, Luca was startled when Noobin quickly sat up. "What on..."

"What? What is it?" Luca asked, confused.

"You'd know if you had your goggles on. It's a proximity alarm."

Luca's fingers scrambled at the goggles on his forehead and he nearly poked his own eyes out trying to get them on. The vision turned a dull grey from the lenses but was punctured by red flashing. Up in the corner he read the proximity alarm details. Unidentified target moving toward the from gate. It was not responding to demands for an access code. It wasn't an Engineer.

"A fiend?" Luca wondered quietly. Only fiends walked up to the front gate like that.

"Dunno," Noobin moved quickly to put the pieces he'd removed from Luca's legs back in place. "Let's find out."


	3. The Stranger

Chapter 1 Part II

Outside the garage, people were moving with purpose toward the front gate. Luca and Noobin broke into a run, racing past most of the older, more cautious citizens.

When they reached the gate (Luca easily several paces ahead of Noobin), the armed guards were positioned along the top of the gate. Luca and Noobin forced their way forward to the gate teeth, gazing out across the waste just past their noses.

"200 percent zoom," Luca said and his goggles zoomed to a far point. Focused. He could see a small but nondescript figure, dark against the sand. "50 percent more." Zoom! The figure focused closer. It was humanoid dressed in a long dark coat, face shadowed by a wide brim hat.

"It doesn't look like a fiend," Noobin, who'd also used his telescopic lenses, muttered quietly.

"Fiends can look like anything," Luca said, eyes still trained on the desert. It could be dangerous, whatever this was. But then something started whispering through his head. A tune, or perhaps more like a chant. He heard no words, but he saw images again. Normally when this happened, he'd hit the ground and start to draw, but now was not the time.

The alarm began to fade as the figure moved closer. The guards kept their weapons trained, however. This could be one of any of the world's people trying to get revenge on the Engineers. A lone suicide soldier perhaps.

The figure came to a stop before the gate. It must feel all the weapons aimed at it's head. It stood still. From beneath the leather hat dropped numerous thick dark dread locks. Caked with sand and threaded with feathers, they were weighed down at the bottom by small bones and animal skulls. Luca felt a shiver go down his back even though the chant in his head grew louder.

The it raised its head and spoke and Luca was stunned to hear the scratchy alto of a woman. "The sands are deep and the sun is angry."

A murmur went up. That was a traditional Dolian greeting. She was a desert nomad.

Sighs of relief could be heard in the ranks as the woman brought gloved hands up to show she was no threat.

"I request entry." He voice was calm but full of determination. She _would_ come in if the guards liked it or not. The stranger's face was still covered, so all Luca could see where her ice blue eyes.

For a split second her eyes focused on him and his mind exploded with sound. Louder and more clear than before, the original tune was joined with a soft harmony that was heartbreaking. It wove itself around the notes to add its own uniquely haunting beauty. Luca was glad no one was watching him because he knew he must look silly, rocking to and fro to a song no one else could hear.

Then silence. The woman's gaze drifted elsewhere.

"Step into the gate scan and remove all weapons," the main porter called out, voice rich with authority. The woman stepped up to the gate and opened her long leather coat. From beneath it she drew two long knives, both as long as her forearms and from her hips she unstrapped a worn leather gun belt. There were bullets fully stocked in each leather loop along the belt and the holsters held two large, antiquated pistols. They were double action six shooters of black steel decorated with inlaid gold and silver with an ivory handle. She gave all this to the scan guards and stood still while the gate hummed around her, checking for further weapons she might be hiding. There were none.

"I wish to speak to the Head Engineer."

"Well, we'll see what we can do about that," the porter said in a huff. Four guards stepped up and took positions around her before marching her off toward Home.

"A Dolian," Noobin shook his head as everyone watched them leave. "Haven't seen one of those in years. Vydran said they'd probably all died out. Man, is she creepy or what?"

"Or what," Luca half agreed. The beautiful music was all but gone now and it left him feeling sad and empty.

"Hm. Oh well. We won't find out why she's here anytime soon. It'll probably be days before she's allowed to see Wedge. Let's get back to the shop."

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We are planning on posting a new part every tuesday and friday when we have material.

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	4. Eavesdropping

Yay updates! Thanks for the review! You know you can review more than once !

Chapter 1 Part III

Everyone was curious about the nomad but life returned to normal very quickly in the Engineer city. They chatted about her as they went about their lives.

Three days later, when Noobin had finished Wedge's hovercraft, he picked up Luca and they went for a joy ride before driving to the Home garage.

"Jump out and tell the garage guard that I'm parking Wedge's craft in garage E," Noobin said from behind the wheel. Luca jumped out and headed to the guard booth and Noobin drove on.

When Luca found the booth empty, he walked in, thinking he'd leave a note. He then saw the door to the main hall open and assumed the guard had just wandered down the hall to go to the bathroom. He stepped into the main hall and looked about. A few hundred yards down he saw a cluster of people standing quietly by a door. He noticed a guard uniform among them so he headed over.

Someone saw him as he approached and immediately gestured for him to keep silent. Curious now, Luca joined them for what was obviously an eavesdropping session. He realized then that he was outside Wedge's private office and he could easily hear the conversation going on inside. His immediate thought was that someone should make a note to soundproof this room sometime, but all thoughts fell out of his head when he heard the familiar mellow tone of the Dolian speak.

"Yes, we believe he is somewhere in this city."

"You believe the person you're looking for is an Engineer?" Wedge was heard to question cautiously.

"That is what my elders came to conclude. I've been sent to find him."

There was a creaking of leather as Wedge sat back in his chair. "You'll forgive me if I'm a little skeptical. We engineers don't really believe in soul speaking. We know machines. Nothing else is useful to us."

"Please, if you'll only let me search for him."

A moment of silence, then, "How long?"

"Give me a weeks' time. If I have not found our High Summoner in your city by then, I will take my leave of you."

High Summoner? What the heck is a High Summoner? Luca wondered.

"Very well," Wedge agreed grudgingly. "Do you need new housing?"

"No. The room I've been given here is fine."

"Alright. I suppose our conversation is over then. You have one week."

The crowd at the door suddenly disintegrated. No one wanted to be caught anywhere near that door when the stranger walked out.

Luca himself only lingered a moment longer before heading back to the garage. Maybe Noobin could make heads or tails of this.

The two buddies left the shop later that night and didn't feel like bar hopping, so they made a fire outside or their dwelling to keep warm. As the sun went down slowly and painted the scene a deep crimson, Luca launched straight into the events of the day.

"Sounds mystical to me. High Summoner? To summon what? Why would the Dolian elders know of such a man? Why would it be one of us? Why was that woman sent and how will she know when she finds him?" Luca stopped to take a breath and seemed ready for another round of questions when Noobin laughed softly.

"Slow your ass down! Why are you so interested in what the stranger is seeking? You've been preoccupied all day." Noobin sat next to his friend on a chunk of scrap metal and gave him a quizzical look.

Luca glanced over and shrugged his shoulders. "Just curious." He chucked a stick into the smoldering fire and looked on. "Do you think it has something to do with the Great Demon?"

The light atmosphere subsided and both sat in scared silence. The Great Demon. The whole reason they had to live secluded from the rest of the world. It was their machines that brought its wrath upon the creatures of this planet. Their wrong doings. Their sins.

No one really knows for sure why it appeared. Only that its first target was the largest technologically advanced city in the world. And for the past ten years it has been hitting one city after another, leaving each in ruins. But nothing was like the first strike. Now Zanarkand lives on only in memory.

"What else could it be about? The Great Demon is the only reason for doing anything these days. We design better weapons, better protection, all to keep us safe from that demon and the ones that blame us for it. We have to protect ourselves from the people we used to play with when we were little. How messed up is that? And to top things off, more than half of our technology is lost. Why _not_ look for a savior? It's better than sitting around waiting to die..." Noobin seemed to have exhausted himself after his little speech. His shoulders lowered and he let out a small sigh. "I hope she finds him soon...."

Luca moved his fingers through the sand beneath his feet. "I can't wait to see a live Ronso again," he said absently.

Noobin snorted and threw a pebble at his friend. "You're such a kid. If a Ronso saw you today, he'd probably rip your arms off!" He leaned back and looked up at the stars. "At least you would be symmetrical then."

Luca sneered and snatched up the largest rock he could find.

"OUCH!"


	5. Sand and Sky

Lain: To all you that are wondering how Luca can be the first High Summoner....well you're just going to have to read and find out how it goes! ::goofy smile::

Chapter 1 Part IV

"TYSHED!" Luca slammed the chunk of metal that had been his project to the worktable. It hit with a dull thunk and laid still. Luca ripped the goggles off his head and threw them down beside the useless contraption. He dropped his head into his hands, squeezing his eyes shut. He couldn't do it. He just didn't understand how it worked. The professor could teach all she wanted. Noobin could help all he could. It didn't matter. It was like gibberish.

His goggles beeped, telling him impatiently that he should put them back on. Luca smacked them away. They leapt off the table and slid when they hit the ground, heading toward the doorway where they bumped to a halt against a worn leather boot.

Luca sat up, eyes wide, as he stared at the Dolian woman in his doorway. He saw only her silhouette in front of the glare of the morning sun. He large brimmed hat and long coat made for a very inhuman outline. Luca had heard that she had been wandering all week, never saying anything, only watching people closely. She was making most of the citizens very uncomfortable. Technically she had only a day and a half left before she had to find her 'summoner' or leave.

"...Um...would you like some water?" Luca asked timidly of the statue standing in his doorway.

She was still and silent a moment before softly asking his name.

"...L...Luca. I'm Luca."

"Luca," the Dolian tried his name out on her tongue and then stepped into his home. "I would like some water, thank you."

Luca got up, his legs making their normal soft clicks and hums as he went to get water from the basin in the corner.

When he turned back to give her the water, she took off her hat and he started a little.

She was at least fifteen years his senior, somewhere in her mid thirties and her face was lovely in a cool emotionless sort of way. Her tanned skin made her eyes even brighter blue. On her forehead from just above her eyebrows to her hairline was a dark tangle of tribal tattoos, stretching from temple to temple, the ends curling down beneath her eyes. He'd never seen such extensive tattooing, especially on a woman's face.

She took the cup from him with hands covered in fingerless gloves. Everything she wore looked worn into comfortable softness. He almost wanted to reach out and touch her coat but he refrained.

"What is your...uh..." He was having difficulty talking around her. Snatches of the previous harmony were filtering through his head again, distracting him.

"I am called Vale." She didn't sip her water but she stood there watching him silently.

"It . . . have you found what you were looking for yet?"

"Mayhaps."

Silence, awkward on his part.

"My parents . . . they'll be home soon if you came looking for them."

"They aren't your real parents."

Luca blinked, ". . . no . . . "

"You were in Zanarkand."

". . . Yes."

"Did you see the man in the red coat?" she asked with a quiet curiosity.

"Red coat? What? No, well, maybe. I don't remember. It was a long time ago," Luca said, feeling flustered.

"Don't worry. He's not important yet anyway."

Luca frowned. This lady was cracked. Probably too much sun.

"Do the Engineers have a shuttle off this island?"

Luca frowned even deeper. "I don't know. I doubt it. Why would we want to leave? The world blames us for the attacks on all the Cities. They say it was the sin of the Engineer's technology that woke the Great Demon."

"Yes, that is what they say," Vale muttered thoughtfully.

Luca looked at her for a long while but she remained silent, only looking back at him. "I . . . think there's still an airship . . . if you _really_ want to get off the island. . ."

Vale nodded thoughtfully. The small bones and metal bits in the ends of her dread locks clicked calmly together at the movement.

Luca sat down again at his work table and went silent. Vale stood for a long moment, once more merely staring at him. She took one sip from the tin cup before pouring it out on the ground.

"Hey!" Luca became highly alarmed. "Fresh water is hard to come by out here. Don't waste it."

"I am not wasting it," Vale said as she crouched down nimbly, her worn hide pants creaking softly. She stuck a long finger into the puddle and began to spread the water around in large loops on the metal floor. Luca stood slowly as the loops began to take a recognizable shape on the ground. The tune came to him again, so loud and true now that he began to hum it out loud. A moment later, Vale hummed along with him, her harmony the exact same as the one he'd heard in his head when her eyes had first touched his through the barrier of the main gate.

When she was done, they stood looking down at the glyph scrawled out on the floor. They both finished their hum at the same moment.

"What is it?" Luca asked in an awed whisper.

"It is a glyph. A key to a summons."

". . . and the tune?"

"They prayer is the second key. Together they can bring forth a great power that can only be controlled by one person."

"Who?"

"You."

Luca took a quick step back, startled and scared. Vale continued to speak, stepping over the glyph towards him. "Even now, warriors are being called. In their minds they hear the prayer calling them to the service of the High Summoner. Your prayer."

"It's not my prayer," Luca insisted, his spine going cold. "I'm not a summoner."

"No, you are _not_ a summoner. A summoner is a hired thug who happens to be gifted in the creative magics. A summoner is hired by the armies of the great Cities to turn their soldiers into demons to fight on futile battlefields. When the Demon came, summoners were no more, for the summons no longer need to be called by magic to enter the physical world. The Great Demon tore a hole into the Farplane and the summons were no long imprisoned. They were given the wandering souls of the lost and fallen, those who died in violence, killed by the Great Demon. They took over these wandering souls and became what we know today as fiends. Summoners can no longer control their creations. No, you are not a summoner. You are the High Summoner."

Luca stumbled back until his legs hit his chair and he fell into it with a whump. Vale leaned over him immediately, one hand on either arm of his chair. She smelled of sand and sky.

"Wha–What is . . . what is a . . ." but his throat was dry and he couldn't finish his query.

Vale stood back slowly, blue eyes gleaming supernaturally in the work light. "The High Summoner must create creatures far more powerful and any summoned fiend. Only through these powerful demons can the threat of the Great Demon be challenged. Only then can it possibly be defeated. You are the first. It all begins with you."

Luca gaped at her and was finally able to find his voice. "But . . . I . . . don't want to be your High Summoner."

Vale smiled and it seemed as though her face was not use to such an action. "You have no choice."


	6. Exile

Chapter 1 Part V

"You have no choice? What kind of bullshit is that? Bitch is crazy."

Luca tapped nervously at the strap of his goggles across his temple. He'd been in his room for the last two days and hadn't come out. He had finally opened the door just enough to let Noobin squeeze inside.

"Man, calm down. You look like you're about to blow a kycgad."

"I _am_ about to. She wants me to go with her. She wants me to summon high fiends or some crap like that and fight the Great Demon."

"Tough. She might want you, but H.E. Wedge would never let her take you off Bikanel. It's suicide for any Engineer to leave."

Luca shook his head and bit his lip. "She's going to convince him. I know she is."

"Stop freaking out. He'll just send her packing back into the desert to dry out with the last of the Dolians. You'll forget all about her soon enough and - -"

"Luca?" Noobin's father stuck his head into the room.

"Vydran?"

Platt looked nervous. "You're being summoned to the office of Head Engineer Wedge."

Luca stared at his Platt blankly a moment, then he stared at Noobin blankly a moment, then he got up and left his room.

- - - -

Vale was standing silent and immobile by the H.E.'s desk when Luca was ushered in. He slowed when he saw her but Wedge asked him to be seated and he could do nothing but comply.

"Luca, my son, you have a tremendous task ahead of you."

Luca could only stare at him.

"Vale of the Gold Hoop tribe of the Dolian has spoken with our council of the completion of her search. She has found who she was looking for and it seems she was looking for you."

Luca's eyes shifted to Vale, then back to Wedge. His goggles gave him an inhuman, mechanically look. Luca didn't like seeing his eyes.

"It has been decided by the council that you will accompany her on her quest. As an Engineer representative, you will seek to spread education about our people, that we are not evil. That we are not the reason for the Great Demon. You go as our ambassador. Will you do this?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"No."

Luca's jaw clicked as he ground his teeth together. "Then why did you bother to ask me?"

"Formality. You have two days to prepare for your journey. A small ferry will be leaving early morning on the third day for the main land."

Luca stood stiffly, "I thank you, sir, for the opportunity to leave the safety of our island and head into untold dangers. I only hope I will live to see Home realized. Good day to you."

Luca turned and stormed out of the office. That was that. The H.E. had just exiled Luca from the only place in the world that could keep him safe on pretenses of ambassadorship. Luca felt like breaking something.

He stormed down the hall, through the lobby and out into the desert sunlight. Passing all the scaffolding for Home's construction, Luca plucked up a metal rod, five feet long, as he went.

He strode moodily toward his own home, his hand squeezing painfully at the hot metal of the rod. He heard a wiz and a beep and just barely side stepped a small drone who had just moved around a corner, carrying scarp metal. Luca reacted instantly. The metal rod moved from immobility to large sweeping gestures as he whirled it above his head. It cut through the hot air so fast that a whistle accompanied it on it's journey.

The drone was smashed to pieces before it could even apologize and input an updated course to successfully negotiate a safe path around the engineer.

Luca glared down at the junked machine, shoulders heaving. Of the people who had witness his loss of temper, only one spoke as she passed him.

"You are good with that weapon," Vale only spared the unfortunate drone a single glance. "You should bring it with you." She walked on.

Luca glared after her.


	7. The Engineer Ship

Chapter 2 Part I

"Chocobo shit!" Noobin barked as he watched Luca packed his belongings into a small satchel. "You _are_ the one she was looking for? . . . Wow . . . who would have thought?"

"If you're so tickled about it, how about you go?" Luca's dull eyes searched his room for anything else he might have missed. When his eyes drifted and caught on his old blitzball, he smiled sadly and reached for it. Noobin grabbed it up first and whirled it on his finger with an excited grin on his face.

"Let me come with you. You wouldn't get very far without me looking out for you."

"I'm not _completely _incompetent. Why would you want to go anyway?" Luca took his ball back and put it aside, knowing it would be pointless to bring it along.

"The adventure. You're the one who wanted to meet Ronso and get off this island. Going on a journey can't be all that bad. I'll tell you one thing, if I see another grain of sand again in my life, it'll be too damn soon."

"The Dolian would put a damper on all the fun, methinks. And you have work to do here. You're only a few months away from graduating and becoming a real engineer. You shouldn't waste your gift." Luca looked at his friend and brother earnestly, knowing his words and reasoning were true, but part of him wanted Noobin to tell him to shut up and come along anyway.

"Maybe you're right," Noobin said suddenly in a very uncharacteristic tone. "And the parents shouldn't be left alone. They're old. They could keel over any day. . . Tell me if you need anything else, Luke. I have a deadline I forgot about," he smiled stiffly and left the room.

Luca felt bad, but it was just too dangerous. It was bad enough one engineer would be leaving the island into the unknown. Two would be tempting fate.

He scanned his room a final time and his eyes came upon an old video sphere crammed in the corner between his bed and his desk. Curious, he pried it out of the space and activated it. An array of light and sound filled the small space around him and transported him to a time and place far away.

Memories streamed into Luca with an almost physical force. The skyscrapers jumped up above him and loomed over the crush of the crowds that churned around two central figures. A young voice could be heard inquiring if the light was on. Luca's eyes misted over as he became witness to the last day he was in the company of his family. "Vydran . . . Breendin . . ."

His father's grin was just as he remembered. The seven year old version of himself beamed with pride, holding his new official championship blitzball that his father had purchased for him when entering the limits of the stadium. He wasn't sure if the one he had now was the same one. He had thought he'd lost it in the madness that was to strike Zanarkand that day, but when he woke up in the dark room with his legs missing and his body scraped up, a banged up blitzball was beside him in the bed. Perhaps it hadn't been the one his father bought, but someone had thought the little boy without his legs would want something for his ordeal.

Everything was aglow and the surrounding blitz fans were oozing with excitement, anticipating the game that seemed only moments away.

"This is Luca's first blitzball game and he's really excited, aren't you" His father crouched down and messes up Luca's short blond hair.

"Vydran!!" Little Luca whined as he tried to get away. Breendin could be heard laughing and the sphere image bounced around a bit. In the distance, a voice on speakers was telling all the fans to give in their tickets and find their seats. Luca tugged on his father's sleeves and blared, "Come on! We're gonna be late! Turn it off, Bree!"

The sphere bleeped off and the images faded away, leaving Luca alone in the darkness.

- - - - -

"Are you ready?" Vale questioned as Luca walked up to her with his bag and rod from before.

He looked around the makeshift port absently and shrugged a shoulder, "Sure." He headed to the dock, not waiting for her. One small ship bobbed slowly in the water. It had been thrown together in two days and Luca had no doubt that it was water tight anyway. The engineers could make anything, and they could make it damn good. The five man crew was busy running around and checking over things for the launch. Luca stopped and watched in silence. The crew nodded when he came over but regarded him in a sort of sadness.

Luca didn't notice Vale was beside him until she spoke. "We have a visitor."

Luca looked over at her, then looked where she had her eyes trained. Noobin was walking briskly toward them with a few bags over his shoulders. When he reached them, he dropped one bag to the ground where it landed with a metallic thump. He took a deep breath and smiled. "Hiya! I've changed my mind. I'm coming with you guys."

Luca blinked, "New, what about your career? And your parents?"

"Eh, they're old enough to take care of themselves. Besides, it's not like this trip is going to take forever. I can pick up where I left off when we come home."

Luca raised an eyebrow, "You were planning this all along."

Noobin thought a moment, his eyes wandering the skies, then he smiled, "Yeah."

"Well, it's up to Vale."

They both looked at Vale who gave Noobin a long look from the bottom of his thick work boots to the top of his spikey red head. "Don't slow us down, don't get your ass killed. If you can defend yourself, you can come. I don't care. Let's board." Without so much as a glance back, she left them.

Luca and Noobin looked at each other.

"Scaaary!" Noobin said (in true Vash the Stampede form). "Oh, by the way, where is this fricken cruise boat headed?"

Luca had no idea and illustrated so with a shrug. "Dunno. What's in the bag?"

"Oh, all sorts of goodies. I've got a plasma cannon I've been working on. It's almost done. And dad finished your permanents. I can install them when we're on the way."

His permanent legs? Luca had nearly forgotten all about them. What would he have done out in the world with his old legs and no Noobin to fix an glitch? He certainly wouldn't have gotten far.

When they got to the boat, Vale was checking supplies.

"Um . . . Ms . . .Vale? Where exactly are we going?"

"The boat will take us to Moon City. From there we head north."

Moon City. Luca had never really been anywhere but Zanarkand and Bikanel. Moon City was one of the great Cities, built upon bridges over the waters of the Moonflow. Both the city and the flow got it's name from the pyreflies that floated along the water's surface and danced in globes around the highest spires, giving the appearance of thousands of small moons floating in the night sky. Luca's resentment and fear dissipated a moment as his excitement set in.

"I assume you have full length pants?"

Luca blinked back to reality, "What?"

"Your legs," Vale nodded to his prosthetics. "You're going to want to hide those. You both also might consider putting your goggles away when we approach the mainland. We don't have enough guardians yet. We want to draw as little attention to ourselves as possible." She then eyed Noobin's heavy bag. "Is that a weapon?"

"Yes'm."

"Do you know how to use it?"

"I designed it and built it. I _better_ know how to use it," Noobin said a bit shortly.

Vale nodded. "Good. Make sure its stays covered until you need it." She turned then and leapt aboard the ship. In the movement, her worn coat flew from her sides and Luca could see her pistols at her hips. They were old and beautiful and both had a strange decoration hanging from the hilts. Golden hoops, one linked by the other, large to small, dangled down. Luca had noticed similar hoops in her ears, hanging nearly to her shoulders. Then he recalled what H.E. Wedge had called her. _Vale of the Golden Hoop tribe of the Dolian_. They must be her tribal symbols.

The ship set off with no ceremony and only Noobin's father came to see them off. He was too far away for them to see the look of worry on his face.


	8. Moon City

Chapter 2 Part II

The trip was long and monotonous. Luca and Noobin stayed to themselves and Vale spoke only when answering a direct question. The engineers sailing the ship obviously had better things to do than leave two of their own people to their doom on the mainland, but they had orders from the H.E.

After nearly two and a half days of sailing, Luca asked Vale a question. "You said we didn't have enough guardians before. What exactly is a guardian?"

Vale was cleaning her guns. They lay in a few pieces on a dry cloth. "Guardians are fighters hired by the military. Instead of being a soldier, their sole job is to insure the safety of their assigned summoner so that summoner can remain focused on his or her magic."

Luca watched her cleaning out the barrel with a long rod wrapped in a soft cloth.

"Since you are the High Summoner, Noobin and I are your guardians. We must at all times be prepared to give our lives to protect you."

Luca sat back and wondered if Noobin was sure he knew what he had signed up for by tagging along.

Later that evening, Noobin installed Luca's permanent legs. Unlike the previous ones that had been prototypes with open air panels for easy access, the inner workings of these legs were hidden from view from long smooth plates of metal. They could almost be mistake for metal boots, but Luca wouldn't take any chances. He wore his long pants anyway. The movement was flawless. Vryden had worked hard to make sure these legs were perfect for his adopted son. Luca thanked the old man silently.

Land was spotted on the morning of the sixth day. A few hours later, the engineer boat dropped anchor. They would go no closer to land and the three travelers packed all their belongings onto a small escape boat. The two boats parted ways and after an hour and a half of hard paddling, the raft glided into the harbor of Moon City. Boats and ships of every size proliferated, so no one noticed the small dingy. They were able to dock it inconspicuously on a small fisherman's dock. They unloaded it and left it behind. They would never see it again.

Noobin and Luca looked up with the faces of tourists. Only Vale, who had lived her entire life in a small caravan in the desert, somehow didn't look impressed.

"Man, not wearing my goggles is killing me," Noobin whispered to Luca.

"Yeah, but not as much as wearing them would."

"My eyes are adapted to them. I'm getting a headache without them."

"That is what comes of a lifetime of use. In a few hundred years, no doubt the eyes of the engineers will even look different because of their dependancy on them," Vale said offhandedly.

"Then who we are would be a lot harder to hide," Luca muttered.

"Yeah. Evolution sucks," Noobin concluded the subject.

The small band wove its way toward what looked like a massive business skyscraper but was only a massive hotel. Mave left them waiting outside and went in. She returned a few minutes later, shaking her head. "One night is more gil than we have budgeted for our first month of travel. We'll have to find a more meager hostel."

Noobin looked around. "We'd have to sell my nuts to afford any of the rooms in this area of the city."

Luca gave him a look of disgust. "I highly doubt your nuts are popular enough to fetch that kind of a price."

"I meant my hydrolic state-of-the-art lud nuts, jackass," Noobin grinned and punched his friend in the arm.

"Right. Sure."

They turned to follow Vale further into the city. What looked like a small amused smirk might have touched her lips. Noobin winked at Luca and whispered, "She totally has a crush on me."

"Right. Take off, dumbass."

As they moved into Moon City, they passed shop after shop selling things Luca had forgotten that he always wanted. He even saw a vintage shop with a pair of kids shoes he remembered begging his vydran for. He actually touched the shop door before he realized that a) he wasn't a kid anymore, and b) he didn't have actual feet.

The people around them were loud and obnoxious, which was simply wonderful. He hadn't enjoyed a truly obnoxious person since his boyhood in Zanarkand. Some man bumped into him and swore him out. Luca could only smile at him. Finally, a real city again.

Vale checked hotels periodically as they went but always came out shaking her head. At least the prices seemed to be going down the further north they walked. They passed through what was surely the largest tourist attraction in the city. One of the many expansive bridges the city was built on was constructed completely out of glass. No metal obstructed his view from the glow of the flow beneath him (a work of engineering genius, he might have pointed out if it wouldn't have gotten him a knife in the gut). They walked above the lane of pyreflies and it felt like they were flying.

He watched the world beneath his metal feet in wonder until he crashed right into someone.

"Whoa! Hey!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Luca apologized profusely before he looked up and lost the rest of his words. The girl was carrying a huge back of groceries and she was absolutely beautiful. She gave him a werid look when his tongue froze in his mouth. Then a look of subtle understanding dawned and her scowl softened.

"First time in Moon City?"

Luca could only nod his head dumbly.

"The Walk is better at night. Then everyone is looking down and bumping into everyone else. Even the locals."

Luca smiled goofily. The girl nodded and moved around him, continuing on her way. "Keep your head up."

He stared after her, completely forgetting the wonder beneath his feet. He wondered what her name was. It was beautiful, no doubt.

Noobin grabbed his arm and yanked him alone. He teased him about the girl the rest of the way.

- - - - -

Please post comments. If we don't get any, we'll assume no one is reading and we'll probably just stop posting because it's a pain to transfer the story from notebook to computer. We appreciate it! L&L


	9. Drunkard

Chapter 2 part III

Eventually, the shops began to give out to clubs and bars as the evening settled in. Luca thought about the girl and hummed the hymn that was drifting through his head.

The prostitutes left them alone, Vale's mere presence enough to ward them off. She walked slower now with her hands beneath her coat. She asked Noobin to walk behind Luca. He didn't know why, but he complied.

The night got darker and the city got dirtier. Vale made it past the door of the Cowler Inn and Tavern without a problem, but Luca was not so lucky. A huge man came flying out through the doors and crashed straight into him. They both went down into the grimy street. Vale's guns were out at the same moment. With a click they were both cocked and aimed at the man who had fallen on Luca. He was unconscious.

"Help!" Luca squeaked from beneath 250 pounds of drunk.

Vale immediately retrained her pistols to the swinging door which was now occupied by a rather huge man in ad hoc samurai armor. He glared down at the unconscious drunk sprawled out on the fallen High Summoner with his hand on the hilt of his katana.

The man in the door shouted something triumphantly, but he must have been just as drunk because only undignified jibberish came out. Then he wavered where he stood and fell heavily against the door jam, armor clinking. Vale saw no further threat and holstered her guns.

Noobin, amused out of his gourd after the initial alarm, helped Luca roll the man off of him and helped him up. "Nice catch, brother."

"Shove it," Luca bit before he looked at the old samurai in the doorway and went silent.

The samurai looked at him with dark, bleary eyes and, in a moment of clarity, said, "Oh, there you are."

He then proceeded to pitch forward and fall flat on his face on the curb.

None of the three moved to catch him nor to pick him up once he had reached his final destination. They stared down at him for a long moment before Vale snorted in disgust and turned to leave.

"No, wait," Luca said softly.

Vale stopped and half turned to him, looking impatient. "What is it?"

". . . He is one of my Guardians."

Vale turned all the way to Luca, looking at him carefully, then down at the drunk snoring in the street. ". . . Are you sure?"

Luca swallowed and nodded. "The hymn was in my head about an hour before we got here. It was getting stronger but I didn't think anything of it. But when I saw him, I heard his harmony, like I heard yours when I first saw you. And he was looking for me too. You heard him. He said, 'there you are'."

Vale closed her eyes for a long moment, then she sighed. "Help me get him inside."

They ignored the other man and pulled the samurai up and back through the doors. The tender saw this and protested, "Nae! Nae nae! Get that crazy bastard out of here."

Vale glared at him from beneath the rim of her hat, "We will buy two rooms for the night. One for him and one for us. We won't let him out until he's sober."

The tender considered and then shrugged. He grabbed two keys and led them upstairs. With much puffing and heaving, they somehow got him up the stairs. He woke up halfway down the hall and jibbered a bit more. As they dropped him onto his bed (in full armor), he grabbed at Vale's ass. She told him calmly that if he ever did it again, he would lose his sword hand, finger by finger. She then left a note and they went to their designated room.

Noobin asked what a Guardian was and they spent the rest of the evening explaining his duties to him. He was less than pleased.

- - - - -

In the morning, Vale left the boys to their sleep (Luca on the single bed, Noobin on the ground) and went to the Samurai's room. It was empty. She gritted her teeth and headed down to the bar. She heard the man bellowing before she even got there.

"I got gil! I want a bloody drink!"

"Nikolas, it's seven in the morning. The bar doesn't even open until three."

Vale stepped into the tavern and headed over to the bar where she saw him, still in his armor, slap down enough gil to pay for both their rooms last night.

"Just a gin and tonic. . . HALF a gin and tonic . . . just the gin!"

Vale sat down on the stool beside him, dread locks clicking, and quietly ordered a cup of coffee. The tender had no problem with that order and immediately set upon it.

Nikolas slammed his fist on the bar and swore. Vale remained like a statue beside him. "You have a problem."

Nikolas turned his bloodshot eyes to her. "I'm sorry, sweetie, but did you just SPEAK to me?"

"Be nice to her, Nik," the tender said as he set Vale's cup of coffee down in front of her. "She's the one that got you that room. If it were up to me, you'd still be snoring in the street, probably quite a few gil lighter."

Nikolas made a face. "So you're the one that left this," he said as he tossed her note down beside her coffee. It read 'You're welcome. Come to room 19 when you awaken.'

"Aye," she admitted and sipped her coffee. It was a good blend.

"I don't just go to stranger's rooms."

"And I don't pay for rooms for drunks. Drinking is unbecoming of a samurai."

"Pff!" The tender laughed. "Don't let ole' Nik fool you. He ain't no samurai. He picked that armor off dead warriors years ago. He's just a mercenary for hire."

Nik glared at him but offered no rebuttal.

"A warrior for hire then. Are you any good?"

"You're damn right I'm good!"

"When he's not drinking," the tender offered. "Which is all the time."

"Shove it, Dale."

"Do you remember the boy from last night? Tall, blond - - "

"I don't like boys, honey, but you might work just fine."

Vale ignored the comment. "When you saw him last night, you said, 'Oh, there you are.' You were looking for him, were you not?"

"I don't have a blasted clue what you're talking about, lady. Unless you're gonna offer me money, this conversation is over."

"How much?"

"What?"

"If I wanted to employ your services, how much would you need?"

Nikolas peered at her a long moment, scratching his balding head. Then his eyes drifted down to her chest and he made up his mind. "For you, sweetie? 25 gil a day."

"And to hire you _sober_?"

He made a face. "A damn lot more."

"How much?"

He saw that she was quite serious. "100 a day."

"Oh, come off it, Nik. Even in your prime, you were never worth that much a da - - "

"Deal."

Both Nik and Dale blinked at her. "Deal?" they asked in unison.

"Deal," Vale sealed it and stood, laying down a gil for her coffee. "Starting in three days, we leave for the North. Meet us here at 7 a.m. if you'd come."

"I'll be there," Nik was almost dazed.

"Good."


	10. The Great Demon

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Chapter 2 Part III

In the few days they were in town, Luca tried to see as many of the sights as he could, even when Vale told him that they would need their rest. Who could sleep when there was so much to see?

Luca usually went out with Noobin, but on their last night in Moon city, he woke up in the middle of the night to wander by himself. Struggling into his long pants, he grabbed his staff and quietly exited the small room, thankful that Vale wasn't occupying her bed.

_She probably would disapprove of me walking about by my lonesome...but I need to think._

Escaping into the night air, Luca gazed up at the millions of stars above him and inhaled the scent of the city. The sky was stilled filled with city pollution from the many years of motor vehicle use and mechanical equipment, so some of the stars where rather difficult to see. But from the looks of it, the people have shunned almost all technology, save for the buildings and bridges that were the cities pride and joy. No more flourescent lighting, neon signs or gas guzzling vehicles to attract any unwanted attention.

As he walked toward one of the enormous glass bridges, Luca saw a point of light far in the distance. Thinking little of it, he reached the bridge and blocked all other sounds out except the sound of the sea and the metallic click of his feet on the surface of the glass. Humming softly to himself, Luca watched the pyreflies floating inches off the dark waters underneath him, rising and falling in a quiet dance that mesmerized him. He still couldn't quite believe that he wasn't still trapped on that desert island, that the only thing to see when looking out across anything wasn't sand and more sand.

But again, that glint caught his eye and it seemed closer now that it had been before. He leaned forward over the railing and squinted, for once truly regretting not having his goggles. He stared out at the spot for nearly a full minute, squinting like an idiot before he finally realized what he was looking at. A glint, a reflection rolling on a surface of moving water. He blinked for another long moment before he realized that the moving water was fast and it was almost vertical. His throat closed up in an instant. A tidal wave. Now it was close enough that he could see a gleaming body beneath the surface of the water, smooth and enormous but otherwise undescribable. Coming so fast now. With a few fast bursts, large balls of water shot out from the main body and sped toward the harbor. Three in a row, boom boom boom, slammed into the tower of a skyscraper with a deafening force that shook the bridge he stood on, even though it was half a city away from him. Even when the sirens began to scream, Luca could only move slowly, backing away from the sight. It was almost as though he were not moving, just that his mechanical legs had decided to take his life into their responsibility and were getting him away on their own. Soon he turned and was running back to the tavern as the bridge around him erupted in chaos, people screaming and pointing.

No. This isn't happening. No no no no.

He got to the inn just in time to see Vale race out of the front door, her eyes wild. When she saw him, something akin to absolute rage passed over her face but she seemed to physically force it down and calm herself. How anyone could find calm when that siren was tearing holes in one's brain was inconceivable.

Noobin ran out a few moments later, almost running into Vale. Instead he turned as quickly as he could but this only managed to save Vale and not himself. He spilled headfirst into the street, not far from where Nikolas has fallen a few days earlier. Luca would have laughed but he didn't. He didn't find anything funny right now. Nikolas stepped out of the Inn with a slowness that belied the excitement in his face. He reached down and picked Noobin up by the back of his shirt. They all had their packs with them.

Luca turned to look back at the Demon as it rose, water spraying off it's side as it ascended into the sky where it hung like a small planet. Pulses of light flashed out and buildings exploded. The attack had not yet come to their district of the city, but it would be here soon. The bridge was already rumbling under their feet. Luca stared out at the sphere of destruction that was all too familiar.

"What do I do?" he asked in a small voice, then he screamed, "Vale! I'm the High Summoner! WHAT DO I DO?!"

"You RUN!" Vale hollered and grabbed the front of his shirt before she took off at a dead run, dragging him along behind her.

Chaos roared around them and Luca could only run along behind his guardian. He didn't even know if Noobin and Nikolas were behind him, he had only to hope. Vale's hat bobbed through the mobs of civilians who didn't know where to go or what to do, screaming ineffectually. Noobin screeched to a stop a few feet behind Luca when he saw a family of four standing stationary, trying to remove a piece of building off what might once have been their mother.

"No time," Nikolas growled and shoved Noobin forward so hard that he had to start running again or once more fall flat on his face.

Pieces of the city cascaded from the sky as the Demon moved into the most populated area of Moon City. Luca couldn't believe his eyes as he watched two of the glass bridges shatter beneath the pressure of a pushed tidal wave. The rod in his hand felt useless as he watched hundreds of people at a time fall into the Moonflow below, now churning and splashing as it swallowed the city piece by piece.

Then Luca stopped suddenly, crashing into Vale's back. He only threw her off a little and she righted herself immediately, not once pausing in her action. He watched her push the sides of her coat back, watched as she lifted both her pistols from their holsters and leveled them. He looked where they were aimed and had just enough time to see the flashing spines of the demon spawn, quivering in the night air, before Vale opened fire. The .45 caliber magnum bullets exploded out of her guns, loud enough even to puncture the wail of the siren and the screams around them. They thudded into the heads of the demon spawn but their job was not done, for these bullets were of the shrapnel variety. Upon impact, each bullet exploded, throwing smaller bullets every which way, exploding the demon spawn from the inside out.

Luca gapped and watched her turn on three more spawn who had made the mistake of getting in her way. When the way was clear she moved forward again, though a bit slower this time. Luca had time to look back for his friend and the samurai. He saw Nikolas move forward quickly, sword moving so fast it was merely a flash through the night air. The spawn seemed unharmed until he had replaced his sword in it's sheath and stood back. Then the thing split in two and fell away from itself. Nikolas saw Luca staring and simply pointed after Vale. _Go. Follow._

Now the bridge was shaking so hard it was really a difficulty to run straight. Vale took care of a spawn that landed in front of them, Nikolas taking care of any that decided to take chase. Noobin stumbled around with Luca until their feet hit dirt on the far end of the bridge, on the eastern shore of the Moonflow. Here were the refugees of Moon City, watching with tear filled eyes and dirt streaked faces as their city was destroyed. Luca stood among them with Noobin at his side, shoulders and chests heaving, as they watched Moon City sink into the Moonflow. Some bridges sank almost complete, full buildings still intact. As the city sank, the sirens were engulfed and were soon lost. The only sounds that followed was the buzzing in their ears and the muffled cries of the lost.

Luca was numb. The second city he had seen destroyed. He saw a little girl standing a few feet from him, knees scratched up, holding a dirty doll. She looked about eight years old. She would remember this horror for the rest of her life. He knew she would.

When her father came and led her away, Luca looked back at the water. It's boiling and frothing was calming. In the distance, the Demon turned it's back on a job well done and sped off across the water so fast it left a wide wake in the black liquid beneath it.

A few people were struggling ashore and everyone already safe jumped into the rescue effort. The cries were mostly background drone and, not long after the last live citizen was pulled out of the water, the dead ones began to drift to shore. They pulled a few out, but the limp dead weight was heavy and could offer no thanks for the effort, so eventually they gave it up.

Luca found the body of a young woman in green, half on the bank. She was not the girl he had fallen in love with on first sight a few days ago, but she may as well have been. He bent down, mechanical knees sighing softly, and pushed some dark, wet hair out of her face. Her brown eyes were open, fixed and staring. He moved his hand to close them, but suddenly they closed by themselves. Then opened again. Luca took his hand back quickly. Alive?

He heard a moan and a cry and stumbled back as the woman's fingers sunk into the wet sand of the bank, as her elbows shifted and pointed up to the sky, as she slowly lifted her limp head.

"Are . . .are you okay?"

He could hear her crying, but her face was still, her lips unmoving. She cried in his mind in fear and confusion, all the while slowly pulling herself up from the water. Once she was standing, her body began to shake. Lights like pyreflies spilled from and surrounded her as she bent over herself. Before Luca's eyes, the dead woman turned into a gigantic cat, long whiskers floating in the night air, the tips of which seemed alive with fire.

Luca stared at the beautiful creature without understanding. Then, somewhere behind him, someone raised a cry.

"FIEND!"

A hand grabbed his collar and yanked him back. Vale and Nikolas were immediately between him and the cat which was now glowing with gathering energy.

"Do not let it finish it's charge!" Vale warned and opened fire.

Luca watched in horror as red marks like rose blooms showed up on the cat's white fur. Then a long red dash as Nikolas moved passed it with his katana. Still, Luca could hear the woman who became the cat crying in confusion and fear.

"No, stop! Stop! Wait!" Luca struggled to his feet where Nikolas had dumped him. "STOP!"

Vale spared a glance back as the cat was on it's side, now more crimson than white, it's whiskers flickering weakly. It opened it's maw and let out a furious shriek, but it was too injured to attack.

Luca stepped forward, clenching his staff nervously. Nikolas snorted and raised his sword for the coup de tat, but Luca spoke again, with more authority, "I said stop. Put your weapon away." Nikolas slowly lowered his katana and stepped back.

Luca did not lean down and touch the creature. Truly he would have lost his hand had he done so. Instead, he listened to the lost soul within the dying fiend, crying for help. Luca closed his eyes and began to sing softly to her, a lullaby he thought, to ease her suffering. Before he knew it, the staff in his hand was swinging, whirling around him, before him, above him, behind his back. He didn't have to do it, it just seemed like the right action to go with the lullaby.

The fiend quieted, watching the whirl of his staff like a tired but entertained child. Then, as the others watched, the creature began to fade. Soon it was gone and in it's place were hundreds of pyreflies, dancing up toward the heavens.

Eventually, Luca opened his eyes and many people were staring at him, not just his traveling companions.

It was Noobin who found the voice to speak, "What did you do?"

"She was lost. I sent her home."

". . . Sent . . ."

"To the Farplane," Vale said quietly, weapons once more hidden. "He sent her to the Farplane where she now belongs." A small smile graced her lips.

"There are others," said a citizen of the city that had once been named for the moon. He spoke softly and with reverence, bowing his head as he approached. "There are others that are lost. They need to be sent too."

Luca nodded solemnly and took off at a slow walk down the shore.

"Feel honored," Vale said softly to those around her before heading off to guard her summoner. "You have just bared witness to the first Sending."


	11. Rambling Speeches

Chapter 2 Part V

They headed north after all that could be done for Moon City was done. They were only a few among a hundred or so heading north, but they found no comfort in the sad exodus.

Noobin noticed the bubble that formed around them immediately, people keeping their distance. But the faces that came near looked at Luca with awe and whispered his name. Luca never noticed.

Luca asked Vale at every camp fire, every night, when he would be able to do what she had taken him from his home to do. "In time," was always her response and every time she said it, his anger rose higher and higher.

About a week before the boiling skies of the Thunder Plains came into view, a small man broke from the crowd around them and came to sit at Luca's fire. His beard was nearly as long as he was, his clothes a warm, dusty green as was his tall hat.

He came and sat without invitation but Vale did not send him away. He sat next to Luca and smiled, his eyes shining behind his spectacles.

"You are Luca, yes?"

Luca nodded slowly, looking carefully at the man. There was something strange about him, like a faint hum and glow.

"Luca, Luca, yes," the man seemed pleased, though his speech remained slow and on the verge of breathlessness. "Yes, indeed."

"And who are you?" Luca asked respectfully.

"I am Maechen, an old man who has once again found himself without a place to call home."

"I am sorry for your loss," Luca offered and meant it.

"Thank you, my boy. I am headed now to Omega City in hopes of finding a place to settle. Until Sin comes again, that is."

"Sin?"

"Aye, Sin, for that is what the Demon signifies isn't it?" He looked to Vale now sitting back against her pack, smoking. The grey smoke drifted to the rim of her had and slid up around the edges until it dissipated in the night sky above. She nodded slowly in agreement.

"Sin," Luca said the word and immediately accepted it. Sin it was and Sin it would always be.

"This was not the first home I lost to Sin. Indeed not, for I was there during the first attack when Zanarkand fell."

Luca sat up, immediately awake again despite the late hour and the warmth of the fire. "You were in Zanarkand?"

"Aye, yes, and from the look on your face, you were as well."

"Yes," he said as he sat back. "I was there. I lost my family to Sin that day."

"I too lost much in Zanarkand on that dark day. Yes, so much indeed."

Luca sat and spoke with Maechen long after the others had lost interest in his rambling speeches except perhaps for Vale who had patience and respect for the lived of life and slow of tongue and mind.

Maechen walked with them for the next few days, speaking about all the things he had seen in his long life. He spoke of being born in the city of Mana, of growing up in Dinh and coming to live in Zanarkand through his formative years. He spoke mostly of things that happened to Zanarkand before Luca's birth such as the horror of the Mecha Wars and the death of the famous battle-summoner Lynne beneath St. Bevelle.

They passed through miles of thin woods as they approached the Thunder Plains. When the trees began to thin out to the foot hills of the mountains ahead, Maechen took his leaved of them (Much to Noobin and Nikolas' relief) and struck out east with the majority of the refugees toward Omega City. Maechen told Luca that they would meet again and of this he seemed very sure.

There was only fifty or so who made it as far as the caves in the mountain that blocked them from the Thunder Plains. Most didn't find it worth the danger to get to Bevelle.

They were all rather surprised to come upon a guard at the mouth of the mountain caves. Luca had never seen a guado before, so he hung back behind Vale as she approached the lone sentry. He was swaddled in clothes from neck to toe, his physical form basically lost within the earth tone fabric. He stood tall with a long spear pointing to the rocky outcropping above him.

"Why is this way barred?" Vale questioned, standing in a way that looked casual to anyone who didn't know her. Luca knew her just well enough to know that she would have her guns at the ready before the guado could even think to lift his spear.

"You have come to Guadosalam. The caves are closed to you. Please find another route."

Luca moved closer, fascinated by the vein-like marks on the surface of the man's pale skin, crossing over his face. He also found interesting the texture of the man's green hair. It looked like Vale's dread locks, but seemed to have the texture of tree roots. And speaking of trees, weren't the guado supposed to be a forest people, living solely beneath the magical branches of Macalania Forest? Why was this man here, standing outside a cave far from any respectable tangle of trees?

"Guadosalam," Vale spoke slowly, thoughtfully. It was clear she had never heard this before, and neither had Luca for that matter.

"Here is where the Farplane was torn open. Here is where only we guado can protect the Farplane from further attack. Please find another route."

Vale shook her head. "The High Summoner's pilgrimage goes through these caves. We will not seek an alternate path and demand entrance to Guadosalam."

The guard's head tilted subtly to the side as though he might find this curious. "High Summoner?"

"Aye. We demand entrance."

Luca was about to step forward and tell Vale that it wouldn't work. That they could just find another way to the Thunder Plains, but the spear lowered its defenses. The guado stepped aside. "Enter," he said.

Now Luca was too distracted to realize that they had gained entrance. He stared at the guado's hand, now raised to gesture them in. The palm was easily twice the size of his won, the fingers five times as long. Nikolas had to shove both he and Noobin (who was also staring) to get them moving.

The few people left from Moon City were lucky to be there. Without Luca, they would have had to walk almost 100 leagues out of the way to the next tunnel access through the mountains. As it was, they were all ushered straight through Guadosalam and out the back tunnels, not being allowed to sightsee.

They missed quite a sight. What Nikolas had claimed used to be a simple network of caves only a few years earlier was now a magically shaped stone city. The stone had been formed into homes and structures, beautiful in design. Soft light emanated from altered stones. There was a silent reverence and not one person spoke aloud, at least not in the common area.

Looking up, they saw stone walkways spiraling up and out of sight. Luca wondered which one lead to the tear in the Farplane.

The sentry led them quietly through the stone city. Guado women and men, swamped in rich fabrics, watched them pass in curious silence. This place was magical. He could feel it dancing lightly on his skin, causing the small blond hairs on his arms to stand up straight. He could also hear the magic like a . . . like a . . .

"Hymn," Luca said in a whisper that must have been considered rudely loud because all eyes turned to him. Luca snapped his mouth shut and lowered his eyes. He listened intently to the hymn singing in his head, like before he'd met Vale and Nikolas. This time though, instead of his melody and a mysterious harmony, he heard two harmonies to his melody. One was a soft male baritone, the other a light female soprano.

They were lead to what looked like a palace carved out of a gigantic stone wall. The stone doors rolled open without a sound and they entered a cavernous front hall, their very breaths seeming to echo away from them into the distance. The guado guard turned to them and finally spoke for the first time since he'd lead them into Guadosalam. "Please wait here. The Maester will be with you in a while. Please help yourself to some food," he gestured to the long table of delectables along the side of the entrance, then he turned and headed gracefully up a long stair.

The traveling party turned and looked at each other. They could do nothing but eat and wait.

- - - - - - -

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	12. Old Faces

Chapter 2 Part VI

Nikolas found and finished half a bottle of wine before they saw anyone else. Vale didn't look pleased at his drinking but she had yet to say anything. Noobin slept soundly in a plush chair while Luca paced, tapping at his temple as though his goggles were there.

A woman swept down the huge stair and led them through a door across the great hall. They all stayed close, glancing around in curiosity. The Hymn was almost screaming in Luca's head now. This room was just as grand as the last, but this one contained three people at the far end. The old man sat small in his large chair, body curled almost completely in on himself. To either of his sides was a guado, one male, one female. They were as identical as non-identical twins could be. They both had long turquoise tree roots for hair and mage robes.

The old man leaned forward a little, his head resting on his chest. "Welcome."

Vale immediately took off her hat and bowed, one leg out. Nikolas also bowed low on one knee.

Luca didn't know what to do, because a regular old bow would seem silly after those first two, so he gave the Blitzball victory bow. He had never heard of a guado Blitzball team, so he figured they wouldn't recognize it. Noobin also did the Blitzball bow, a smirk on his face. The two guado beside the old man found this very interesting and glanced at each other over his head.

"I am Maester Cort. Welcome to Guadosalam. Here beside me is my grandson Navazi, and my granddaughter, Siddah." Both young guado nodded when their name was spoken. "There is one among you who claims to be a 'high' summoner?"

Vale looked back at Luca who tried to pretend he wasn't there. Noobin, swell guy that he was, put a hand to Luca's back and shoved him forward. He stumbled past Vale and stood with his shoulders curled, embarrassed.

The young woman stepped forward. The blue marks on her pale skin curved around her eyes and lips like streaks of lightening. Her eyes were cold, as turquoise as her hair. Her mage rob was blue streaked with white threads and designs. The female harmony in his head crested until it reached it's climax and then went silent. Then the young man stepped forward. His robes were similar, but instead of white threads, his were black. The male harmony in Luca's head finished and a silence swept over the three of them.

Siddah turned and nodded to her grandfather, "It is him."

"Thank Yevon," the man muttered tearfully. "Perhaps there is some hope yet."

- - - - -

A few days later found Luca walking silently along the stone walkways of Guadosalam with Siddah. Her presence was calming and immediately likeable. He didn't mind the silence that hung between them, imposed by the unspoken laws of the city. Even Siddah's steps were silent, though he could hear the whisper of her robes along the stone ground. His own feet seemed to click far too loudly.

The higher into they walkways they ascended, the fewer guado were seen. Soon, they had walked fifteen minutes without seeing a single person but Luca found that they were no longer surrounded by silence. There was an electric hum in the air. Luca could almost hear articulation in the hum but thought it was only in his head.

Finally, Siddah spoke, surprising Luca so much that his heart skipped a bit and he jumped about an inch. "We are coming upon the Tear."

"Tear . . . in the Farplane?"

Siddah nodded, head high and back almost painfully straight. Luca swallowed. He wasn't sure he wanted to be here.

Siddah seemed calm enough as they stepped onto another stone walk that lead them into a tunnel lit by magically altered stones. He hesitated enough that he was walking a few steps behind her.

The bright tunnel gave way to an open space so cavernous that Luca could not see the ceiling nor the other end of it. Not that Luca was looking for the ceiling or the far wall. Hanging in the middle of the space was something large and shimmering, like a lake sized pool of oil. The surface seemed to swim and stretch with . . .

"Faces?" Luca gaped as he stared into the void.

"Yes," Siddah nodded. "It is here that the skin between the worlds is thin and those over there stretch to be released into our world."

"So . . . those are people who have died?" Luca started forward, his foot touching the bottom of over a hundred steps that led to the vertical lake. Every ten steps, two guado stood on either side of the stair. The ones on the left had robes like Siddah, blue with white streaks. To the right, blue with black streaks like Navazi. All the mages, white and black, were staring silently and unblinking up at the Farplane tear.

When Luca made it to the midway landing, two faces began to solidify at the bottom of the pool, right were the Farplane touched the stone stair. The faces clarified and Luca began to hurry upwards. "Vrydan! Breendin!"

Five steps from the top, ten feet from where he would have run straight into the surface of the Farplane, Siddah reached out and grabbed Luca's hand, her long finger (with two extra knuckles) curling around his. She was surprisingly strong and stopped him where he was.

"Luca, no! Whoever you see, it is not really them. They are gone. You have those people in your heart and the Farplane shows you what you want to see. It's trying to draw you in so that it may escape through you. We cannot enter the Farplane. Not yet. Not when it's still so unstable. Maybe someday we will be able to enter, just a little. But not today."

Even hearing this, Luca still wanted to continue forward but he forced himself into stillness. Siddah moved beside him, loosening her grip but not letting go. "It is all we can do to keep it sealed. There are always twenty mages here to keep it as closed as we can manage. Even then, fiends slip out. Step down with me. We can go no closer."

Luca felt his eyes burn but he turned his back on the faces of his father and brother and allowed his white mage guardian to lead him back down the stairs and through the tunnel.

- - - - - - -

From now on, updates will probably be once a week starting this week.

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	13. The Thunder Plains

Chapter 3 Part I

Luca and his guardians were invited to stay as guests in the home of the maester for a week before they chose a day to move on again. Siddah and Navazi's travel bags were filled mostly with spell books and an excess of potions. They each packed only one extra robe, identical to the ones they already wore.

They were led through the mountain by tunnels lit by magic. The air was continuously cleaned and freshened and of a comfortable temperature, making the travel nice if a little claustrophobic. Their initial group of three had coalesced into six and they had to walk a bit spread out to avoid cramping.

"How was it that you knew I was coming?" Luca inquired of the twins after a day's leisurely walk. Such a question had been nagging him ever since Nikolas had recognized him even in a drunken stupor back in Moon City.

"It was a dream," Navazi explained calmly. "Both of us had a dream where we saw a figure of a man singing a hypnotic melody. This man had dragon wings, a wheel of power spinning behind his head, and legs and feet of metal. At first we both dismissed it until we realized we'd both experienced the same dream." Siddah was nodding her head in silent agreement.

"Our grandfather believed that we had a deeper purpose and when he heard your title, he was curious enough to let your party enter. Thank Yevon he did. We guado wish only to return to our woods and live in peace. When we realized there was a tear in the Farplane, we knew we were the only ones who could heal it. But our magic is still not powerful enough to keep the fiends from escaping nor to close the tear. The fiends keep slipping out and have killed countless numbers of our people . . . we fear it will be a long time before the tear will truly be closed. We also fear the possibility of Sin tearing now holes."

"There's really nothing you can do about that though," Luca said. "I guess we just have to wait until Sin does it and then deal with it when it happens." A depressing thought, if ever there was one.

The trip through the mountain took a few boring days. They gradually became aware of the shaking of the ground, inconsistent but often, and the rumbled that traveled to them through the tunnel. The twist of the stone kept the full sound of the lightening from hitting them until they stepped out on the far side of the mountain.

"Ooh. Elec-TRI-city," Noobin drooled. He couldn't help it, he pulled his goggles from his pocket and snapped them on his head. It a moment they were warmed up and running and the next lightening bolt brought tons of data, including the distance of the hit, the temperature and the length of the bolt.

Luca gave a hurried, worried glance to the Guardians around him. Only Nikolas seemed surprised by the now obvious fact that Noobin was an engineer. He was too shocked to be angry . . . yet. They had some time before they had to start explaining. That time would be spent making their way through the Thunder Plains.

Stretching as far a they could see was a blasted land where no plant grew and no animal dared to live. An engineer could have told anyone the reason from the rolling thunder and shrieking lightening, always prevalent in this land. It was because of the altitude above sea level, thick with cumulonimbus clouds, and the instability of upward moving moist air. But no one wanted to hear what an engineer had to say nowadays, so the place was simply regarded as being cursed.

Puncturing the bleak landscape, aside from the more than occasional streak of lightening, were lightening rods as tall as sky scraper, sticking out of the ground every 800 feet. They pointed to the heavens like broken ribs through the flesh of a decaying carcass (which is a lovely way to look at ANYTHING, really). The towers seemed to be working for the most part, but some were only collecting lightening strikes by chance, not by design. The engineers had been driven from the known world ten years earlier and there was no one left to repair the towers as they broke down.

ZARK! One shot of lightening hit less than 100 feet away, pitting the ground violently. "Day-um! That was a good one. You see that?" Noobin chuckled even though the rest of the party had been left momentarily deaf from the blast. Siddah turned to speak quietly to her brother. How they managed to hear each other over one concessive blast after another was a mystery. Navazi looked a little worried but nodded to his sister. Siddah stepped forward, but when she spoke it was more with her mind into their heads than her lips into their ears.

"I'm going to cast a protect spell around us, then Navazi shall cast a water barrier to absorb any strikes. Once it is in place, we'll have to move fast to the first working lightening tower where we may rest." The first working tower was about a half mile away but the one beyond it was over a full mile further. Travel at your own risk. In between here and there were four towers in disrepair. They would draw a majority of the strikes because of their sheer size, but they would not grab them all out of the air. Luca shifted his legs, making sure they were in working order for running. They moved flawlessly.

Siddah and Navazi raised their hands in unison but Navazi didn't start his own incantation until a full five seconds after Siddah began hers. The air around them seemed to thicken and harden and, for a second, glowed a soft pink. Five seconds later, the air shimmered blue and watery before that vision too disappeared. Siddah nodded, "On our way, then."

They moved out quickly at a fast jog. Three times lightening struck their bubble of protection. The impact threw them all to the ground, but no one was injured beyond some bruises and scrapes.

"How do normal people survive this crossing?" Luca asked, flinching at each and every flash of light.

"Most don't," Navazi seemed to be concentrating on adding more power to his water spell. "People usually spend weeks circumventing the Thunder Plains."

"So why didn't we just go around?" Noobin questioned, goggled eyes zipping here and there in fascination. They could even read the energy out put given by both white and black magic spells.

"Because by then, the gathering in Bevelle will be over."

"What gathering in Bevelle?"

But before Navazi could answer, Vale barked, "Less talking, more running. We'll talk about it when we stop."

Luca frowned by did not protest. They made the first tower within fifteen minutes. They would have been safe within 800 of a working tower but the mages kept their spells up until everyone was beside the base. Noobin immediately went about poking and prodding and examining the enormous piece of equipment, forgetting all else. The rest sat down to catch their breath and map out the route to the next working tower.

"What is this about Bevelle?" Luca glanced at Vale but she said nothing as though she hadn't even heard him.

Navazi decided to speak on it. "It's a meeting of the summoners."

Luca blinked.

"Bevelle is the base of operations for tactics against the Great Demon - - "

"Sin. It should be called Sin," Luca said suddenly.

Navazi immediately accepted the name and put it right into his vocabulary. "There has been a call to arms, so to speak, and summoners from all the Cities are gathering there as we speak. Many we ourselves have turned away from Guadosalam, much to their chargin, as you can imagine. It was doubtful they could make it through the Thunder Plains in time safely anyhow. We guado know the way to go, for it was through these plains that we came from Macalania to Guadosalam in the first place. It will be so nice to see those trees again," he sighed whistfully.

"So the summoners are gathering to form a plan?"

"It is more like they are gathering to approve a plan already in the making," Siddah spoke, snacking quietly on some dried fruit. "The summoner Lady Yunalesca has guaranteed the world a plan that will work, but there are still deliberations to go over and those who will be involved, the summoners whose magicks are needed, must of course agree to help."

"Who is this Yunalesca and why does she think she knows how to cure the world?" Nikolas asked as his eyes continually scanned the landscape for fiends. They had been lucky to run into none so far.

"Lady Yunalesca is a very popular summoner and her husband, Lord Zaon, is a very powerful political figure in Bevelle. With that much power, I imagine you can convince anyone to believe your ideas," Siddah responded.

"So you don't believe she has come up with a plan that will actually work?" Luca questioned.

"Of course she has not," Vale injected suddenly, tipping her head back to blow smoke to the treacherous sky. "She is not the High Summoner."

Everyone fell silent and Luca felt increasingly uncomfortable. A great High Summoner he was. All he had was a tune in his head and a handful of crazy followers. Beyond that, who would believe such an idea? Eventually Siddah broke the silence. "How is it that you got his far north without knowing of the gathering?"

"I was told we were traveling north. That's all," Luca said darkly, trying not to give Vale a sharp look.

Vale stood, ignoring his tone. "It's time to move on. NOOBIN!"

Noobin had disappeared around the column of machinery. Luca walked around it and found him on his knees, elbow deep in an open panel at the base. "Dude, what are you doing? You're going to break it."

"Am not. I've figured out how it works and I have a theory why the ones that aren't aren't. I think I can fix them."

"Vale's not going to let you stop at each dead tower so you can satisfy the itch in your fingers."

"She won't? Well, let me turn up my charm and we'll just see about that."

- - - - - - -

Be sure to check out our website for author bios and character sketches. (L&L)


	14. The Blind Leading the Blind

Chapter 3 Part II

Apparently, Noobin's charm was broken because Vale would have none of his pleadings. They had time yet to get to Bevelle, but she didn't want to push it.

They ran the mile between working towers in 40 minutes, their shield struck an excess of ten times in the unguarded areas between them. Luca received a superficial cut on his face that bled a lot, but Siddah could not spare the energy to heal him until they were safe again. Luca felt stupid and pressed his hand to his cheek while blood dried on his neck, but he didn't even remember to ask Siddah to heal him when they reached the second tower. It was quite obvious that someone else needed her white magic more than he did.

Two small boys ran to them as they approached, eyes red with crying. Luca recognized them as part of one of the Moon City families that the guado had let pass through Guadosalam.

The twins immediately released their spells and Siddah went with them to where an older girl sat over the form of an unconscious man. "Please, help our father. He got hit. He won't wake up."

Siddah was immediately at the man's side, feeling for a pulse and finding one. She reached over and parted the man's hair. She found charred hair and a small burn on his scalp. She leaned down and yanked off both his sandels. On the heel of his right foot was a small, identical burn mark. She immediately set about casting Curaga to draw him away from death. Then she would ease him down with Cura and then simply Cure to keep him out of shock.

Luca crouched by the two little boys to comfort them. The older of the two tried to explain. "The big-hand people, they gave each family a charm to stop the lightening. But Vincent broke it."

"I didn't mean too!!" the younger boy wailed and broke into a new series of sobs.

"Shh, shh, hey, it's okay. I'm sure it was an accident."

Navazi stepped close. "The anti-thunder charms are very delicate. They do break easily."

"See there?" Luca patted little Vincent's back. The boy managed to quiet his cries to a few sniffling hick-ups.

"It is very dangerous to attempt to cross the Thunder Plains nowadays. More and more towers keep breaking down."

"They're not breaking, they just being knocked out of alignment," Noobin spoke up and got a disgusted glare from Nikolas. He continued, "You see, the conductor cables are being knocked out of . . . of . . ." he saw the blank looks on everyone's faces (Luca included) and sighed. "I can fix them. Easily. Five minutes at every tower is all I need," Noobin insisted and looked at Vale. Slowly, Luca looked at Vale as well as did Navazi and Siddah. The man she was working on was awake now. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he looked at Vale as well, since it seemed to be the thing to do at the time.

Vale gave each of them a long look before rolling her eyes and sighing, "five minutes?"

"Five minutes," Noobin agreed heartily.

"Fine. Then we have to start. Now."

They moved quickly from then on, only resting while Noobin took his five minutes at each defunct tower. At the first tower, they were all doubtful until the air around them rumbled and the tower hummed loudly as it started up. Noobin hooted in excitement, "Next!"

Nikolas was growing darker and darker with each tower the engineer fixed. Still, he said nothing of it to Noobin. He didn't speak directly to the young man at all as they were moving through the Thunder Plains.

- - - - -

By the time the last tower was in sight, Noobin had fixed over a hundred lightening rods. His hands were tired but he was happy. "Hey, did you hear that the dude who built these things was killed by a lightening strike?"

"Seriously?" Luca was doubtful.

"Yep. Isn't that friggen hilarious?"

"I suppose I'd find it funny . . . if I was you."

"Heh, yeah baby!"

- - - - -

It took two days of travel to leave the sound of the Thunder Plains behind. By then, they were deep into Macalania Forest. The peace and beauty was overwhelming. The trees sparkled like crystals and the streams and ponds were clear to the very bottom. The wind sang through the trees in a way that could lure someone to sleep in the middle of the day.

Nikolas stayed away from Noobin and Luca stayed away from Vale. He was upset at her for leading him by the nose without telling him where they were going. Navazi, who could not understand how someone could be so upset while beneath the branches of Macalania, fell back to talk to the young summoner. "It's not her fault, you know."

"What?"

"Vale is a Dolian, is she not?"

Luca frowned, wondering how he could know that. "Yeah . . ."

Navazi nodded. "It's not her fault. She did not know she was leading you to the meeting in Bevelle."

"How could she not? She's been leading us straight to Bevelle since we first set foot in Moon City."

"The Dolian are a people of magic. They are Visionaries. They see future events in their dreams and ceremonies. But the visions are not like watching a vid-sphere. It's not completely clear and understandable to even the most gifted of them. She knew to find you in your village, but did she know it was _you_ she was looking for immediately?"

" . . . No. It took her a few days."

"Because she was unsure. It is the same with Bevelle, I believe. She knew she had to lead you north, but she didn't yet know why. She's been as uncertain as you have this whole time."

What a scary thought to think that the person he was blindly following had no idea where she was going.

"So do not be angry with her. She is doing all she can," Navazi smiled kindly. Luca sighed, feeling kind of bad now for his cold actions to her of recent.

Thanking the guado quietly, he quickened his pace until he was beside Vale who had taken point with Siddah through the twisting, confusing paths of Macalania. "Vale, I wanted to - -"

"Not now, Luca," Vale spoke respectfully but sternly. Her eyes were scanning every inch of the forest they passed and she had both hands at ready upon her pistols. Luca could almost imagine the hackles on the back of her neck raised. What could she possibly be guarding for? How could she feel anything but calm in such a lovely place?

Luca's shoulders slumped and he slowed his steps to fall behind Vale and Siddah. He found himself now in line with Nikolas whose face was still dark and brooding. He seemed to be mumbling to himself about Noobin. " . . bloody evil, no good Yevon-hating engineer . . ." Luca's shoulders curled in defensively and his slowed his pace once more until he was walking alone in the middle of the caravan.


	15. The Blue Fiend

Chapter 3 Part III

One night was spent at a large and impossibly beautiful moonlit lake. The second camp was set up, Noobin absconded with Luca's staff. No explanation was given.

Luca sat by the water's edge while Siddah told him about the magic of the forest, the cold of the white mountains to the west, and of the Ronso plains north of Bevelle.

The calm of the night was disrupted an hour later by a single gunshot and the sound of Vale's booted feet running into the trees. Nikolas was after her a second later and Navazi followed third after grabbing a bag of potions and ether. The remaining three stood in the light of the fire and stared uncertainly into the dark shadows beneath the trees.

Five sudden gunshots and an unhuman screech were followed by a bolt of lightening. Silence. A few minutes later, the guardians reappeared. Nikolas looked satisfied but Vale was still on her toes. She was looking around as though the fiend they had just dispatched had only been a precursor for something that still waited to jump out at them when they weren't looking.

She took the first two watches because she seemed so certain, but could not last the entire night. She stoked the fire and woke Nikolas who took watch for two hours before shoving a none-too-gentle boot into Noobin's side.

Unfortunately, Noobin was fairly bad at remaining awake when he wanted to sleep and was snoring an half and hour into his shift. It was sometime after his first snore that Luca was woken by a cold, thick chain slowly squeezing his throat shut. He was already dizzy by the time he got his eyes open. In the darkness above him he saw two yellow eyes, flashing in the waning firelight. A fiend. A fiend had found him in the night.

He gasped, his fingers scrambling ineffectually against the chain around his neck. The eyes leaned closer and he could smell fresh meat on the creature's breath. Then, to his asphyxiated horror, the fiend spoke.

"Sing your song, sorcerer, or be killed." The voice was more a rumble and growl than words, but Luca could understand her completely. Her? . . .yes, a female, he had no doubt even in his terror.

Somewhere off to the left, past the fire light, Noobin jumped to his feet. "Holy shite! A Ronso!"

Ronso. Ronso? What the hell was a Ronso? For the life of him, Luca could not remember. The lack of oxygen might have accounted for this.

He heard scuffling as the guardians came awake and to their feet, no doubt staring in horror at their one charge laying beneath 300 pounds of Ronso.

Two clicks sounded, Vale pulling back the hammers of her pistols. "Get off him. Now."

"Put your weapons away, woman, and Gira promises she will dismember you each in turn. After Gira is through with this one." The chain tightened and Luca tried to scream but all that came out was a gasping croak.

A shot rang out and a bullet thudded into the Ronso's shoulder. The creature gave a tight grunt but did not move away, only squeezed tighter. Vale did not fire again as it was clear it would only hasten Luca's death.

Luca's vision was spotty and going black. He was pretty sure he was dead, but then sweet air rushed in as the pressure slackened. Those eyes leaned closer. "Sing, for your life."

Sing? SING? What in the world did she mean by that? Luca didn't know . . . or did he? Now that the blood rushing in his ears had slightly diminished along with the possibility of sudden death, Luca could hear the Hymn, clear as day. And, wonders, his part was echoed by a harmony, low and mournful and nowhere near human. He began to sing, immediately in amazement, coming up with sounds that weren't words to fill the tune.

The chain let up as did her weight on his chest. In a moment he was laying free on the ground, his song petering off. He stared up at her and couldn't believe how massive she was. She held out a hand that could have easily crushed his head but he took it immediately, trusting her completely.

Upright, she seemed no less gigantic. Luca was the tallest in their party and he barely came up to her shoulder. The female Ronso was well over seven feet tall, perhaps even closer to eight feet. The circumference of her biceps were about the same as Luca's thighs. Her fur was of the deepest blue, making her brilliant blond hair even more shocking. A strange line of green circled her face where the extreme colors of her dark fur and bright mane met and mixed.

Luca had to swallow the lump in his throat when he saw the chain she held. The middle of the length of the chain, which had until recently encircled his neck, was made of thick, smooth links. But each end held a series of five large spiked links. He could only imagine the damage she could inflict by swinging those ends toward someone's head.

As he watched, she calmly slung the chain around her waist, using it almost like a belt. The spiked ends laid calmly against her thighs like a dangerous decoration.

Luca rubbed his neck and looked over to the others who were staring, weapons still at the ready. "It's alright. She's a Guardian," he said in an awed, if choaked voice. Even so, the weapons were lowered only very slowly.

Noobin was the first to speak. "Another one, Luke? Dang. We should get jackets or something."

- - - - -

Gira Ronso turned out to be the niece of the grand-elder of Mt. Gagazet. Her instincts had told her to leave the mountain and search for a man with a song and her uncle had allowed her to go. She had been stalking the party since they'd entered Macalania Forest. Vale could finally relax, now that her feeling of being followed had proved true and been cleared up.

Luca was in awe. Before the first attack of Sin, the Ronso almost never left their plains. After a particularly violent attack where Sin threw itself into the flat lands from high above in an earth shattering impact, the City of Gagazet was thrust up into the sky. The city broke apart as a mountain was born beneath it. The ruins of the city still perched on the very tip, but the Ronso made their new home around and along the broken natural paths along the base. It was now rare to see Ronso even in the broken plains anymore, as they never left their now sacred mountain. Yet here was one, walking upright beside Luca and towering over him. It was normal for the Ronso to walk upright around humans, but in the plains they had never bothered as it was faster to get around on all fours. Gira did this to chase down dinner in the forest, something she did often. Luca could imagine her stalking and sprinting through the tall grass of the once beautiful plain lands. Thinking of it made him feel like a curious kid again and he welcomed the feeling.

Gira made it quite clear that she was here for Luca and didn't bother to converse with anyone else to begin with, not even Siddah as she healed the gunshot wound in Gira's arm. The rest left her alone just fine, so Luca found it convenient to walk with Gira when he wanted some quiet. She didn't find it necessary to chat with him and anyone else who wanted to chat stayed away.

- - - - -

A week later, when even the beauty of Macalania became monotonous, Noobin returned Luca's staff.

"Here ya go," he handed it to his friend and stood there grinning.

" . . . What?"

"What what?"

"What did you do to it?" Luca held the staff carefully at arms length.

"Oh that. Glad you asked," Noobin snatched it right back as though he had no intention of letting Luca keep it anyway. "Check it out. See this button?" He pushed a small inlaid button and both ends of the metal staff sparked suddenly with electricity. "Zap! Cool huh? And the longer you hold the button, the longer it charges and the bigger the shock. If you hold it for a full thirty seconds, there's enough electricity to kill a full grown man . . . or an underdeveloped adolescent shupuff.. . . whatever."

"Huh," Luca looked a little worried about touching it.

"And this I also did for you, pnudran uv seha." Noobin applied pressure to either side of the button and the ends of the staff slid quickly into the middle until the hallow rod was solid and no longer than a foot in length.

" . . .Hey, wow! Thanks, man. It was a pain in the ass to tote around."

"I noticed. Nik hates me now," suddenly.

"Yeah, I know," Luca sighed.

"I was thinking about telling him about you so you can share the hate with me . . ."

"Did you?" Luca asked, alarmed.

"No. I'll leave that to you. You should tell him soon before he finds out himself or he'll just be more pissed."

". . . Yeah."

- - - - - - - - - -

Check out our home page for sketches of new character (Gira Ronso)


	16. Gatecrashers

Chapter 3 Part IV

The city of Bevelle was armed to the teeth. They were stopped at the main gate and told immediately to turn around and go back the way they had come. Between Siddah, Navazi and Vale, they managed to convince the guards that they were indeed an official summoner's party. That first wave of guards was no suggestion to how many guarded the inner workings of the city. They were allowed to walk the streets freely enough. The green armored patrols were thick everywhere they went and only became more so when they moved closer to the city hall, the Temple of St. Bevelle. They were stopped before they even set foot on the long walk.

"Summoners and guardians only allowed beyond this point."

"We are guardians. This is our summoner," Vale announced evenly, standing beside Luca.

The guard gave their mismatched outfits an unimpressed look and leveled the same look at the young 'summoner' and rewrote his previous statement. "REAL summoners and REAL guardians only allowed beyond this point."

"Dude, he's totally a real summoner, ain'cha Luke?" Noobin stepped up and unceremoniously slapped his summoner on the back.

"I don't think you're helping, Noob," Luca muttered out of the corner of his mouth.

"Leave now before I have you removed," the guard said in a bored tone as he turned back to watching his section of the walk.

Gira, who had been standing silently at the back of the group, growled. She shoved past Nikolas and Siddah and grabbed the guard. With the palm of her hand beneath his chin and her long taloned fingers clutching the sides of his head, she easily lifted the full grown man two feet off the ground. "Gira not in mood. High Summoner travel long way. High Summoner tired and want let in. You let High Summoner in or Gira crush head and throw in water."

The other guards had come to and the High Summoner and his guardians had no less than five flamethrowers aimed at them.

"Woah shit," Noobin commented.

"Um, Gira, maybe that's not a good idea," Luca was staring down a muzzle and trying not to panic.

Gira ignored them all. Her attention was on the guard she held at her mercy. "Let in. No one get hurt. You not get crushed. Fire not scare Gira Ronso."

The guard squeaked and squirmed a little before he managed to tell the others to stand down. The flamethrowers dropped as did the threatened guard. He fell to the ground with a thud.

Gira stepped over him and looked back, waiting for the rest to follow her. Luca was the first, followed slowly by the others. As they left the scene of the crime behind, Noobin sighed, "That's gonna come back and bite us in the ass sometime soon, methinks."

"Then let's get to St. Bevelle before the word spreads and they post the army between it and us," Vale muttered before taking off at a brisk run.

As they crossed the long walk, they began to see other soldiers in different armors who paid no particular attention to them. At least not the violent attention that they feared. These differently dressed soldiers were guardians, clad in the colors of their summoner's city. Dozens of different cities were represented here. All guardians were soldiers. All were human. All were men. The looks thrown at the guado and ronso were not surprising. No doubt they were the only of their kind in the entire city. They also wore nothing to signify which city they hailed from so it certainly seemed like they did not belong.

They moved through a huge double door into the courtyard of St. Bevelle. Here, many robes were mixed in with the armor. The summoners of the world, gathered here. They received more looks. The normal number of guardians to summoner was four to one. Luca had six guardians. Some might consider that overkill.

Then the cry went up. "Stop them! They forced their way in!"

All eyes immediately turned to them and weapons were drawn.

"Damn," Vale breathed, slowly moving her hands beneath her coat. Any fast movements could be disastrous. They moved around Luca without a single word exchanged. Noobin, still thought of as fairly useless, was shoved into the middle of the circle beside Luca.

Gira had her chain pulled free and for a few moments it was all that could be heard as she whirled it in a threatening circle before her.

They were surrounded by an army of guardians.

"This is gonna suck a nut," Noobin stated prophetically.

"What is your business here?" An older man in the blue robes of Omega City stepped forward. "Why would you wish to harm us? Are you in league with the Great Demon?"

Luca expected Vale to explain but she was too busy watching weapons. Besides, they didn't want to hear from her. All eyes were staring at Luca in the middle of the protective circle. He cleared his throat. His hands were shaking something fierce. "I am the H . . a summoner. We are here for the meeting, same as you. We wish to help bring about the downfall of Sin."

The man looked doubtful, "What city do you claim?"

"I . . ." part of him panicked. The other part of him spoke, "I am a summoner of Zanarkand."

The courtyard exploded in disbelief. The summoner from Omega City waited until it had quieted a bit. "There are no summoners from Zanarkand anymore. They all died in the first attack."

"Yet here I am," Luca said with more conviction than he actual possessed. "I was only a child when Zanarkand fell, but I was there that day as I am here now and wish only for retribution against Sin."

Muttering continued about the courtyard. "If you are a summoner, then show us your summon so that we may believe."

Luca blinked. Crap. Every summoner had one summons. They spent years developing one specific, fearsome creature. In battle, the summoners would use their summons to inhabit the bodies of his guardians to fight. Afterwards, the summoner would cast out the creature and send it to the Farplane. There, each creature, a new one every summon, would spend eternity, thrown away and forgotten unless it found a way out. Fiends.

Luca _was_ a summoner. He was _the_ Summoner. He just didn't have a summon.

As he stood there, scared and mute, the summoner of Omega City smiled. "I see. I'll bet you've never even seen a summoning. Well boy, I'll grant you that at least before your death."

Four guardians, wearing the same color and symbols as the summoner, stepped forward, two on either side of the old man. He raised his hands and barked a tuneless chant. The air around his guardians shimmered. The four men began to shift and change. Then, in the place of four human guardians from Omega City, stood four massive Dual Horns. They were as broad as draft horses and smoke poured out through gnashing teeth.

All weapons were out now, but Vale shouted a warning, "Those are men, not fiends! Injure, but do _not_ kill!"

Nikolas grumbled, "Oh yeah, that'll make this a lot easier."

Two Dual Horns crouched beside their summoner as the other two leapt . . .

- - - - -

Vale let four volleys go, bullets slamming into the left shoulder of the first Dual Horn. The force spun the summon momentarily, it's broad back and hind legs turning toward them. Nikolas was on him in that moment, slicing the creature's tail off at its base. Counter sweeping, he laid the creature's high back open, slicing straight through muscle and coming just short of the creature's spine.

- - - - -

The second Dual Horn, hearing his companion scream, turned with thoughts of tackling the samurai and biting his head off. His charge stopped suddenly when a thick chain flung itself around his back legs. When the spike ends whipped to a stop, it snapped both ankles. As the second Dual Horn fell, Gira leapt over him and slammed directly into a third one which had only just started to move in. They tumbled back in a tangle of blue fur, smoke and horns. Guardians yanked their summoners out of the way as the large creatures rolled toward them, wrestling and biting.

- - - - -

The Dual Horn with the broken back legs was snarling and dragging itself toward Luca with an alarming speed. Luca quickly extended his staff and pressed and held the button, backing away quickly to give it time to charge.

- - - - -

The fourth Dual Horn, faithfully at his summoner's side, had spent these few seconds charging. It's two massive horns to either side of it's head almost seemed to glow as the magic surged through his body. He reared his head back slowly and took aim. He felt the fire gathering, hot and thick in his throat. He threw his head forward and fire erupted from his mouth in a flaming sphere of death. It hurled across the space. The samurai and the gunslinger barely jumped aside in time. He didn't care. His aim was true. The fireball was soaring right toward the young man who claimed to be one of the sacred summoners. Soon he would be nothing more than a singe stain on the grass.

But then a small creature, a female guado of all things, moved herself between the boy and his imminent death. She calmly put her long fingered hands up and the fireball slammed into a barrier a mere foot in front of her face. For a moment the protect spell was visible and flashed a many-faceted surface, like the segmented eyes of a fly before it was invisible once more.

The Dual Horn howled in rage and reared his head back to attack again but was very suddenly surrounded by ice. The fire in his mouth waned and died out along with the source of the fire, deep in his barrel chest. Nor could he breathe, trapped as he was in a hunk of ice. Only when he was near unconsciousness did Navazi relinquish his ice hold on the summon, nodding in satisfaction as the Dual Horn collapsed to the ground, no longer a threat.

- - - - -

Luca could wait no longer. The Dual Horn was dragging himself faster than Luca could back up. He barely counted fourteen seconds but it would have to be enough. He whirled the charged staff above his head and brought it down on the dome of the summoned creature, smack dab between those two massive horns. The summon froze in his forward movement and his body shook and convulsed with electricity, then collapsed.

- - - - -

Gira slammed one more ham sized fist across the Dual Horn's snout and the summon finally went limp. She sat up from where she was straddling his belly and looked over her shoulder to see Luca still on his feet and three more Dual Horns on the ground. Half her fur was singed and not just a little of it was dark with her blood. But still, she felt good. She gave herself a complete shake, like a cat unfortunate enough to have fallen into water, and a few summoners nearby cried out in alarm to be splattered with blood.

Gira hopped up and went to retrieve her chain before joining the others once more in a protective circle around Luca.

Omega City was pale to the roots of his greying hair. With a stiff motion, he dismissed the failed summons and was left with four unconscious guardians with one back sliced open, two broken ankles, two black eyes and a broken jaw and a fairly severe case of frostbite. "You . . . you . . ."

"We don't want to hurt anyone else," Luca called out sincerely, obviously shaken himself. "Please . . ."

"This is a sacrilege!" a woman wearing the yellow of Besaid cried. "This cannot be allowed!" With that, she began to chant and four Dingos appeared beside her. Another chant was raised and four Hornets took to the air. Four Divebeaks joined them followed by four Snow Flan.

"This'll suck two nuts, I imagine," Noobin commented thoughtfully.

But before all hell could break loose, an unbelievably large creature leapt off a high balcony and slammed into the courtyard. Purple fur bristling, the single Behemoth King stood nearly thirty feet tall and looked far from happy. Somewhere to the right of the gigantic summon's head, a woman's voice called out. "STOP THIS! IN THE NAME OF YEVON, CEASE!"

In an instant, the twelve summons were immediately cast out and the guardians and their summoners backed away. All that was left was the Behemoth King and the woman perched on his shoulder. She stepped onto his hand as he offered it and was lowered to the grass.

"Man, she looks . . . cold," Noobin whispered to Luca who could only stare. She did indeed look cold as her clothes were practically non-existent. Still, there was enough fabric that it was undeniable that she was a summoner of Bevelle. Whoever she was, she was absolutely beautiful . . .and powerful, if that summon towering over them all meant anything.

"Lord Fenton, do not tell me that this young boy scared you enough to go against the rules of St. Bevelle's temple. You know that there is no battle summoning within these sacred walls."

Lord Fenton of Omega City, he of the four unconscious guardians, bowed his head. "I am sorry, milady. Please forgive me."

"I'll consider it and get back to you," the woman said coldly. She dismissed her impressive summon and it was replaced by a tall man in fancy Bevellian armor. He looked as displeased as his summoner.

She turned then to Luca, her face softening, eyes blazing with curiosity. "What is your name, boy?"

". . .L . . .Luca."

"Of Zanarkand?"

Luca nodded, not sure if it was true or not.

"Very good, Luca of Zanarkand. You shall be my guest from now on. You and your impressive party. I am Lady Yunalesca. Welcome to St. Bevelle."


	17. Dinner

The characters of Yunalesca and Lord Zaon are property of Squenix. The rest are ours.

- - - - -

Chapter 3 Part V

St. Bevelle seemed more like a palace than a temple. The floors and walls were marble and draped with thick green banners woven with silver and gold. Servants went between suites and the kitchen, bringing guests whatever was asked of them.

Luca's party was led past a large barricade that walled off an entire wing of the first level.

"The Great Demon attacked our city over two and a half years ago. We're still making repairs," Yunalesca explained as they passed. No one but Luca noticed how weird that seemed. They had heard of the attack while downtown but all the repairs had been finished over a year ago. So why was there a section of St. Bevelle still under construction? One would think that the temple, the center point of the entire city, would be repaired and finished first before they even thought to repair the rest of the city. And the equipment (machines, Luca noted smugly) were still. No one was actually working on it. Highly peculiar indeed.

Yunalesca led them to a sprawling state room that would easily house all seven of them (there was one bed but only Noobin complained when Luca got it by default). Yunalesca told the guardians that dinner was on it's way and then asked Luca if he would be kind enough to dine with her.

Luca blushed as he accepted and followed her to her own suite which was easily twice the size as the one he and his friends had been set up in. A table was already set with two places brimming with food. Yunalesca had him sit opposite of her while she poured their wine.

"So . . . you have only one guardian?" Luca asked both out of curiosity as well as the break the silence that had fallen between him.

"Yes. I only need one. My Behemoth King summon is powerful enough to take on five parties of summons," she said calmly without a hint of arrogance. She was merely stating a fact.

Luca nodded, "He sure seems powerful. Your guardian is . . ."

"My husband. Lord Zaon. Only a strong will can control the power of my Behemoth."

"I see . . ."

"So tell me of yourself," Yunalesca leaned forward and Luca had to move his attention elsewhere to keep from staring at what she was not too concerned about revealing. "You call yourself a summoner and have a gallant group of guardians protecting you, yet you cannot summon."

"Well . . . not yet. I'm still . . .learning, you know?" Luca took a nervous sip of wine. Man it was strong.

"Of course. You are young after all," her eyes traveled appreciatively over his youthful face and down his neck to where his shirt dipped away from his smooth chest. Luca didn't notice this. If he did, he would have been a lot more uncomfortable, if such a thing was possible. She studied him for a while before leaning back again. "So tell me, summoner of Zanarkand. What city have you called your home since Zanarkand was destroyed? Surely you haven't been squatting in the ruins."

Luca knew he should lie to her, tell her he lived in Sovryn or on Kilika Island or something, but for some reason he told the truth. "I've been living on Bikanel Island. . . At Home."

There was a very long pause and looked dropped his eyes again to his untouched meal.

"You are an Engineer then," her voice was calm and very careful.

" . . . Yes, but I'm not a very good one. I can't even get a sphere player to stop flashing 12:00."

When he looked up, she was smiling in amusement, "Well them, my friend the engineer, we are well met."

"Aye, milady," Luca said as he felt relief rush into him.

"Do me a favor?"

"What favor?"

"My name. Say my name in the language of the Engineers."

Luca blinked, "Myto Oihymady?"

"Oihymady," Yunalesca tasted her new name. "I like it."

Luca smiled, highly pleased now. "Myto Oihymady ec dra sucd payidevim fusyh e ryja ajan caah."

It was her turned to blink, but she followed it up with a smile. "What does that mean?"

"It means that you are very nice," Luca grinned.

Yunalesca gave him a curious smile. "Sure it does. Tell me, where did this language come from? It's not any of the ancient languages, is it?"

"Oh, no. It's what my father use to call the Big Joke. It's just a code two engineers came up with one day when they were bored. Being and engineer meant we were second class citizens, so work was hard and long. They needed to amuse themselves so they decided to sends jokes to each other on a scratch pad, but they didn't want to get in trouble in case someone found the pad, so they came up with the code. Other engineers caught on and wanted to learn it too. A decade later, parents were teaching their children to write and spell it along with the common language."

"Wow. I did not know that."

"Consider yourself educated."

"I shall. Thank you Luca."

"You are most welcome."

The rest of the meal was light and casual as though between two old friends.

"I assume you didn't hear about much outside the Sanubian desert. Have you heard about the Call to Zanarkand?"

"No, I have not."

Yunalesca smiled. "It's a bunch of crack pots. They say they want to rebuild Zanarkand."

"Well . . how could they? Wasn't it demolished beyond possible efforts?"

"It most certainly was. But these people aren't talking about rebuilding Zanarkand physically. They're talking about using magic to mix together the dreams of those who lived there. To make a Zanarkand in their minds where they can live in their sleep."

"That's . . .weird."

"YEAH. If you ever head up that way and someone asks you to climb into a wall, DON'T."

"Got it."


	18. The Cloister of Trials

Chapter 3 Part VI

Luca headed back to his own room later that night, a bit tipsy from all that heady wine. He was passing the barricade when he thought he heard something. He leaned close and put his ear to the makeshift wall. Were they working on repairs just on the other side of this wall? He heard a scuffling and found himself honestly curious. He ran his hand along the wall until his fingers found a line. He followed the line up and to a right angle which lead to another right angle down again. A hidden door? Why would they bother to hide a door in a makeshift wall? He felt about but could not find a way to open it. No handle. Hmph.

He could have walked away, still curious but well deterred. Instead he grabbed the unassuming metal rod off his belt. It made a fun SHINK sound as the two ends slid out to their full length. He held the button and hummed a bit. Perhaps he was just a bit more than tipsy. The humming turned into the hymn and it made him calm and happy.

After ten seconds (an eternity to wait for someone as voraciously curious as Luca was right at this moment), he let the button go and tapped it against the door. Something short circuited and the door popped open. "Mmmmagic." He opened the false wall and stepped inside.

The lights were out and the hall was long, tall and dark. His metal feet clicked and echoed away. He squatted just long enough to see that the marble floor was coated thickly with dust.

Luca wandered absently down the hall, staff whirling casually as he hummed. He was making more than enough sound not to notice that someone had slipped through the door after him and was following some twenty feet behind.

Luca turned left and right, or maybe that was right and left. He didn't realize he was getting himself lost.

He stopped in the middle of one hall when he heard a distant buzzing. He stopped humming and tipped his head, listening.

BzzzzzZZZzzzzz . . .

Luca blinked when the Hornet zoomed around the corner. It was the size of an overfed cat and a brilliantly poisonous scarlet in color. It paused as it saw Luca, wings moving so fast they were nearly invisible as it hung there. Luca stared at it curiously. Why would a summoned guardian be buzzing around here? That didn't make any se - -

The Hornet charged. It moved incredibly fast and was already in his face before Luca knew he was even being attacked. His right cheek suddenly opened into searing pain. The bastard had stung him!

He knew then that it wasn't a summon. This was a fiend. He could hear the soft sigh of the soul trapped inside of it. Luca spun, immediately sober. The Hornet had turned and was coming back around. Luca moved fast, lifting his staff and swinging. He connected and smacked the Hornet out of the air. It made a sickening crunch as it hit the ground. It disintegrated and the pyreflies drifted up and floated away.

His cheek was throbbing with fiery pain. He touched it and more pain jolted up behind his eyes. The wound was hot to the touch and quickly swelling. What was a fiend doing floating around St. Bevelle. This place no doubt had magical barriers around every entrance and exit. Luca was feeling dizzy and nauseous now. The venom was making him ill. He wanted nothing more than to get out of here but it was then that he realized that he was lost.

He began running (though it was more like quick stumbling), turning corners, getting more lost, panicking. He stopped twice to bend over and expel his dinner in long hot strings of vomit. Very uncool. He was getting weaker and ended up walking against the wall for support. Even the cloth banners seemed to weigh a ton as he tried to push them out of his way.

When he turned a corner and saw a giant yellow serpent slide out of the ground, all he could do was sob in fear and fall to his knees. He saw the oil pool they fiend had fought it's way out of and for a moment was reminded of the Farplane Tear. But then the fiend was moving toward him and he forgot about the connection.

He shoved himself aside just as the Basilisk was about to roll him flat. His mind went for a dizzy loop but he forced himself up so he couldn't be caught on the floor again.

The Basilisk slithered around and let out a deafening shriek. With it came a concussive blast that made Luca's vision shiver and ripple and slammed him like a physical force back into the wall.

_You can't fight this thing, Luca. You can barely keep yourself from passing out._

The sound of the serpent's belly sliding across the marble set his teeth on edge. He wondered if Vale, Nioklas and Gira combined could take this thing.

He heard a buzz and another Hornet whizzed past his head. Great. It was a gnat in comparison to the Basilisk but it was still deadly. The serpent was across the hall, sitting still now, seeming to be concentrating on something so Luca took the moment given to get rid of the Hornet. He swung his staff at it but he was weak, slow and completely off balance. It easily dodged his attack. The buzzing sounded almost like laughter in his burning ears. He couldn't even take this thing out.

Luca glanced over at the Basilisk just in time to see it rise up and pull it's head back.

". . . Shit." Luca gathered all his strength and launched himself to the left. He felt hard but alive to the ground. He heard a strange crystaline sound and looked back to see the Hornet turn to stone in midflight, fall and shattered on the ground.

"Definately shit," Luca groaned and turned to see the serpent dart at him. Again he leapt aside but this time he was clipped by one of the fiend's fin-like hands. He felt no pain but heard a crunch and knew in his heart that one, if not both or his mechanical legs had been seriously damaged.

He landed hard, his arm smacking the marble ground, sending his elbow into his ribs. He gave a short pained cry by didn't bother wondering if anything was broken. He'd be dead soon anyway.

He saw the serpent sitting still again across the wall. Concentrating. Luca looked down and quickly pulled up the leg of his pants. The left prosthetic seemed alright but his right one was bent and mangled, wires sparking and oil soaking out like blood. He wasn't going to be walking away from this one.

_Send it back to the Farplane._

Luca blinked. He didn't know where the thought had come from, but he was glad it came. He rested on his elbows and began to sing his lullaby. At first nothing seemed to be happening so he raised his voice. It echoed true and clear around the hall. The Basilisk's eyes flared open and it began to twitch and spasm. One pyrefly broke away from the body and threw itself into the pool of oil.

The creature screamed in rage and the concussion once more shoved Luca back into the wall but he never stopped singing. The fiend began to move toward him but slowly and pained as more pyreflies parted ways with it. Soon it was sprawled on the ground, giving up pyreflies like sparks, fading away. Luca kept singing until the last one had disengaged and sunk back into the pool. His final note echoed off and left him in silence, laying injured and sick against the wall.

Luca stared at the pool that looked like oil in the middle of the hallway. A tear in the Farplane, like the one at Guadosalam, only smaller. A hole instead of a tear. That was where the fiends had come from. That was why this wing of the temple was blocked off, because they fiends ran loose here and they had no way of closing the hole. Luca needed to close it. He dropped his staff and began to drag himself over to the Farplane Hole.

_How, Luca? How are you going to close it?_

_I'll figure it out when I get there._

Luca's vision was halfed. His cheek had swollen so large that it had pushed his eye shut. His side hurt where he had elbowed himself and just thinking about his mechanical leg made him want to cry. Still, he dragged himself on.

He could hear voices issuing softly from the hole as he arrived beside it. Mini pyreflies danced across the oily surface. It was rather lovely. Then he recalled the creature he had seen climb out of the tranquility and shuddered.

_Okay. You're here now. Close it._

_I'm getting to it. Hold on._

Luca stared down into the hole, slowly mesmerized. He forgot where he was, he forgot his injuries and sickness. He forgot the Basilisk. All he knew was that he wanted to enter it, be part of it, sleep just beneath the surface. He slowly reached out his hand and touched the surface. It was giving but strangely solid. His hand only sank in a bit, like into a plush feather pillow. He would have to fight to get in there, push and pull and tear open the surface. Maybe he had strength enough. He thought he could do it, if it meant he could sleep when he had accomplished his mission.

The surface felt as cool as glass against a snow storm, but it warmed to his hand, and then even grew hot. He felt something impact it from beneath and pulled his hand away quickly. Was that another fiend? Would it slide right out and eat him before he could get away? Did he even care?

Luca touched the surface again, felt the impact and realized that they were as slow and even as a heart beat. He leaned over it and looked past his hand and saw an inhumane face that was both foreign and familiar.

_Will you?_

_Will I what?_

_Will you do what you must?_

_Yes. . . I will do what I must, until all is finished._

Luca felt his hand finally sink into the pool and the warmth enveloped him. He thought it was all over, he was dead, he would see his father, but the bright light that invaded his eyes slowly faded and he was in the hall again. His hand was still in the middle of the pool but the surface was hard and cool now, smooth and clear. It was glass. Just below the clear surface he would see a silken space, draped with blankets and pillows. Wow, just looking at it made him so tired. How he would have given anything to slip beneath the surface of that smooth glass, curl up and sleep forever. He was trying to figure out a way to get under there when he passed out. He didn't even feel his cheek strike the glass.


	19. The Old Samurai's Story

Chapter 3 Part VII

Luca woke slowly to soft firelight, the smell of flowers and a warm blanket. His body felt heavy and he groaned softly from a stiff neck.

Siddah's face came into view and her relieved smile was lovely. "Welcome back."

Luca's mind moved lazily. He felt neither sick nor injured. "How did I get here?"

"The guards found you passed out on the ground by the construction in that one hallway. Half your face was so swollen, and we almost didn't recognize you. What happened?"

"I'm . . . not sure," he gave a gentle little half-truth. He saw something in her hair and reached out, tugging at the metal loop pushed through the end of one lock of tree root hair. Siddah turned a bit red.

"Vale put it in. I told her I liked her hair, so she took one of the hoops from her earring and put it in for me."

"Wow. That was really . . . sweet . . . for Vale."

Siddah smiled and touched his forehead with cool fingers. "Noobin is working on your leg in the next room . . . Nikolas didn't look to happy about it."

"Thanks," Luca moved slowly to sit up and was glad that Siddah did not try to stop him. He was healed to the extent of her abilities and was therefore sure that he was perfectly fine. He looked around but didn't see the samurai. He pulled the covers off and looked down at his legs. One seemed fine. The other pant leg had been torn off above his knee. Luca started blankly at his stump, the smoothness of the skin marred by implanted plugs and drilled holes that his leg would normally be screwed into. It was an odd feeling for him since it had been years since he'd seen his leg for what it was. He felt a small burn starting behind his eyes but he blinked until it went away. He shifted himself and threw his full leg off the end of the bed. Siddah moved to help him but he waved her off with a thankful smile. Standing, he had to pause a moment to get his balance. He took a careful hop, calculated that he could probably make it to the door and proceeded to hop toward the outer room where Noobin had no doubt set up his makeshift workshop.

- - - - -

Vale watched Luca go from where she sat beside the fire. Once he had disappeared through the door, she got up, grabbing her coat and tobacco pouch as she went, and headed to the double doors and out onto the balcony.

She paused a moment to light her cigarette, watching Nikolas' ramrod straight back as he knelt before his armor, holding up his sword in an ancient samurai ritual.

"I thought you weren't a real samurai," Vale commented as her stick lit and she shook out the match. Nikolas' broad back tensed visibly.

"I use to be a real samurai," was what he gave her as he slid the sword back into its sheath. After it clicked him, he set the sword down before him and bowed his forehead to it before sitting up again. Then he stuck his bleeding thumb in his mouth for a moment.

"Sounds like the beginning of an interesting story," Vale leaned back against the wall beside the double doors, remaining behind him and out of his line of view.

"Less interesting, more pathetic."

"Pathetic can be interesting in it's own way."

"You have a certain charm about you, Vale. You know that, right?" Nikolas taunted, his voice as tight as his shoulders.

"You were going to tell me your story."

"I was?"

"Yes, you were."

Nikolas decided to give in. Vale probably had an entire village of skeletons in her closet. Adding of few of his own couldn't hurt things much. "I was a samurai once. A real one. I studied at the Kaori sword school with my best friends in the entire world. We were so close we were practically brothers. We were hired out as bodyguards to a rich merchant transporting his goods from Dinh to Sovryn. He hired all six of us . . . which is overkill. Anyone could have seen that. Two of us would have been more than enough to secure such a tiny vessel, but he paid for all of us and he paid top dollar.

"He was a decent man. He had his flaws but he _was_ decent. He liked us so much that he hired us on as his personal bodyguards and we went with him on every trip. He paid us well and kept us well fed. It was like being in school again. Hanging out all day, drinking all night, being feared by the rest of the crew. And we were getting paid to boot.

"We were content enough not to ask exactly what we were protecting down in that hold. The boxes were large and stack from floor to ceiling. It didn't really matter after all. It was a good job.

"One day, Kane, the best of us all and the closest to a true brother as I had ever had, got drunk with one of the cargo guards and found out what was in those boxes. They were weapons. Guns, cannons, grenades, bombs, you name it. If it was mechanical and if it was deadly, it was in that cargo hold.

This was big stuff too. State of the art. There wasn't a single box down there that wasn't worth more than a million gil. I was practically drooling to hear it . . .

" . . .I am a greedy person. Always have been, always will be. And you can always be sure that I'll own up to it. The second I heard about the price on those boxes, I was thinking about ways to cash them in. But I couldn't just take them and sell them. That never turns out well. So I started to keep an ear out when we were at port. It didn't take long. I found a guy in Sovryn willing to pay me 20. That was almost more money than I could imagine . . . almost."

"I asked Kane, theoretically of course, about doing it but he was immediately against the idea and said the others guys would be too. I knew he was right. And it made me feel like shit . . . but I decided to do it anyway.

"The plan was that my guy would plant his men among the crew. They'd be hired on in Sovryn and sail with us a few times to build up trust. Then, on the chosen landing, I would take the samurai out of the picture and allow the undercover men to run a mutiny. I was the head of our small group so it should have been easy to distract them and get them off the boat long enough for everything to go down. All I had to do was move the samurai out of the way for the night and by the time we were supposed to report back to duty, I'd have the money in a safe account across town. My only condition was that the samurai would not be involved, would not be attacked in the mutiny, no matter what. It should not have been a problem. . . . but the guys decided to head back early. Apparently they had a poker game with a few of the sailors. They had been bested the last game and were determined to win their money back.

" . . .I . . . couldn't stop them. There was nothing I could do. I might have tried something drastic to keep them away, but once we were outside the tavern and they saw smoke rising from the docks, they were off like the wind. Nothing I would have done could have stopped them then. They were rushing off to do their job. . . They were good men."

Nikolas paused here and Vale didn't press him to hurry on. He stared down at the mismatched armor spread out before him on the balcony. When he was ready, he continued.

"The raid had gone bad. The deck was thick with fighting by the time we got there. My accomplice's men were spewing out of the shadows like friends and jumping aboard, shooting and killing anyone they could find. Our employer was already dead when we found him, though he only barely recognized him with half of his face gone. . . he was a decent man . . ."

"My friends, they were so outnumbered, but they charged right in, swords flying. I could only watch as my friends were cut down one by one before my eyes."

Nikolas reached out and touched a thick black bracer, "Deymeon."

The opposite arm bracer was a burnt umber color with terrifying spiked edges, "Donovan."

The blue lacquered leg guard looked as smooth and cool as water, "Rowan."

The other leg armor was a forest green etched with golden dragons, "Markus."

Last, he touched the chest guard, the deep crimson of fresh blood, just over the place that would have fiercely protected the heart, " . . .Kane. He looked over at me as he fell, saw me standing untouched. I could tell, even through the blood on his face, that he knew."

Vale dropped her cigarette butt, forgotten as it skittered across the stone before being blown off the ledge. She slowly pushed away from the wall, her leather creaking softly in what could have been mistaken for sorrow to any ear that wished to hear it. She took a few steps until she was standing just over Nikolas' left shoulder. Looking down over his balding head, the armor looked like a fallen warrior, laid out in the moonlight.

"I am damned for what I did."

Vale did not refute him.

" . . . Luca is a good kid. A good _man_. The best I've known since Kane."

"And any reason to hate him will work, since you fear you might betray him in the end as well. And the betrayal won't feel so bad if you already hate him for being an engineer."

" . . .Yes."

Vale sniffed the cool night air absently, "You will not betray him."

"How do you know that?" Nikolas asked in a pained tone.

"Because I have not seen such a betrayal in my visions."

"Yet," the old man muttered bitterly.

"If the vision comes to me, I will not hesitate to ask you to leave our family. Until then, you are a trusted guardian and Luca needs you. But if you decide to continue hating him, I believe we'll be better off without you."

"I understand."

Nodding to herself, Vale turned back inside and left Nikolas to his decades of grieving.

- - - - -

The sound of the hammer against Luca's prosthetic leg was so loud that it made him cringe after each impact. Noobin was being merciless, as though smashing the leg back together was part of some anger management program. He had glanced up when Luca had hobbled in but his eyes were hidden behind his goggles and he said nothing before turning back to his task.

Luca relaxed into a chair and watched as his bent leg was slowly hammered back into place. It would never be mistaken for new again, but there was hope yet that Noobin could make it useful again.

It made Luca a bit nervous how Noobin wasn't chatting as he worked, since it was normally so difficult to shut the guy up.

When Noobin threw the hammer aside, the later runs that composed the shape of the mechanical leg seemed surprisingly straight. But then, why should Luca doubt Noobin, he who had been at the top of his class. The engineer pulled out a bag of smaller tools and leaned into his job. The silence was stifling now.

"So . . ." Luca tried.

"You really messed this up, Luke," Noobin said darkly. He didn't look over as he spoke but kept his nose mere inches from his project.

"Yeah, I guess so," Luca agreed faintly.

"What the hell happened anyway?"

"I'm not . . . sure . . ."

"Don't give me that. Your bullshit answer might have worked on those civilians in the next room, but this is me. I bullshit, but I don't get bullshitted."

Luca cringed back in his chair with each syllable thrown out in his best friend's tone. "I. . . well, I was with Lady Yunalesca and I was drinking and --"

"Wow, that says it all, doesn't it? Her husband caught you two and he threw you down some stair?"

"No, nothing like that," Luca snapped to hide his embarrassment. "We just had dinner and I left to head back here. I passed that barricade with all the machines in front of it and I was curious --"

"Of what your leg would look like if you stuck it in a concrete grinder?"

"Let me finish the damn story!"

"Gah. Fine. Geez. Go on then. I dare you to entertain me."

And so Luca did. The more he talked, the faster and with growing detail. He didn't realize his brain had recorded so much as he ran through that max of halls with poison coursing through his veins.

Noobin was absolutely silent until Luca had finished his tale. Then he had a question, "Well, riddle me this, Luke: If you passed out on the glass pool, completely lost in your maze of hallways, how did you get outside the barricade where the guards found you?"

". . ."

"Yeah, exactly. I think you need to go and tell them everything you just told me. It seems damn important. Or it would seem important if I was a real guardian with the lifetime membership, secret handshake and theme song like the rest of you."

"Noob --"

"Go on. I still have lots to do. You're giving me a pain in the leg. Ba. Doom. Ching." Noobin turned back to his project and would say no more.

Luca got up and hopped back to the doors. He was doing fine as he entered but got his sad, lonely foot caught on an expensive rug. He began to fall and was already imagining how much it was going to hurt when a strong hand reached out and caught him. Luca used the extra support to fight for balance and finally righted himself.

"Yikes, that was close. Thank --" when he looked up, he had not been expecting to see Nikolas holding his arm tightly. Luca went pale and for a moment thought Nikolas had saved him the fall so he could push him down himself, but Nikolas held him secure.

"Be careful," the old yojimbo said softly and helped him over to a chair by the fire. Luca stared at him in astonishment until the older man stepped away and found himself another seat. It took Luca a few moments to remember why he had come back into the room.

"I . . .have something to say. About what happened to me."

"Good," Vale said, "but first, how long before you get your leg back?"

"Noobin is good and he's fast. Probably by the end of tomorrow."

"Good, because the first conference is the day after that. You need to look in top shape. Now, tell us what happened."


	20. Conference

Chapter3 Part VIII

Luca's leg was in working order by the time the conference started. Noobin fixed it beyond Luca's expectations. Still, there was a slight shudder and the imperfect frame subjected him to the slightest limp. He noticed it far more than anyone else did or ever would.

Since Luca was not an official summoner, he was not given four guardian chairs but only two. He asked Vale to accompany him and Navazi volunteered to be his second. It only occurred to Luca that Yunalesca had not visited him when he was being lead to the guest table beside where she and her husband would be sitting. Why hadn't she come to check on him when she had heard that he had been injured? Surely she would have right away.

As the large meeting room filled, Luca watched for Yunalesca from every door. She appeared with her morose looking husband, walking to the head table and taking their seats. She didn't so much as cast a glance in Luca's direction or acknowledge his presence. This made him nervous and he missed the opening of the conference worrying about it. Yunalesca headed the meeting and opened by asking for reports from each summoner's city.

The five summoners from Moon City looked pale and devastated, having only just heard of the annihilation of their bridge city. The conference took a long moment of silence and Yunalesca offered that the Moon City summoners should be allowed dismissal for the day but all five and their guardians stayed, a true testament to their desire to defeat Sin.

Luca found himself bored out of his gourd pretty quickly. Having woken this morning with little sleep wasn't helping. Navazi was kind enough to elbow him softly whenever Luca's head dropped below a certain point. Vale looked bored and annoyed. It was clear that none of the ideas being discussed agreed with or impressed her. Navazi studied his nails. Luca kept awake by sketching strange glyphs onto a pad of paper.

He got involved in a particularly detailed one and blocked all else out as he drew faster. When he came near completion, he felt his chest grow thick and could swear that the lines of ink had begun to glow with a ghostly purple light. He started getting light headed and knew it would only get worse if he completed the glyph so he quickly tore the page away and crushed it in his hand. As it crumpled, the feelings in his head and chest dissipated and vanished. He quickly dropped it under the table and kicked it away.

His head cleared just in time to hear a summoner from Dinh ask Yunalesca what her idea was for the Demon. Everyone was curious to know why they had been called here after all.

Yunalesca sat back for a moment in her large chair. Luca was close enough to see the small smug smile on her face, subtle though it was. She stood gracefully and said simply, "our summons are useless."

There was a brief moment of shock before the anger erupted. These hundred or so men and women didn't like being told that their abilities were useless. Yunalesca raised her hands and managed to quiet them enough so that she could continue.

"Our summons are too small, too weak. The Demon bats them out of the air like flies. Moon City, do you really think you could have done anything against it with your Ahirmen, your Wendigo, or Chimera?" She shook her head. "It would have rolled straight over you without notice."

The grieving summoners of Moon City said nothing. They didn't bother to contradict her because they knew she was right. Their summons had been created to fight wars against men, not a gigantic creature who hung in the air like the moon and destroyed entire cities on a whim. Summoners depended on the fact that the general public did not realize this. It was really the only way to avoid mass panic.

"What would you have us do then, Lady Yunalesca? Use machines? Bomb it out of the air?"

"Of course not! The machines of the engineers have brought us nothing but grief. It was because of them that the Demon appeared to torment us in the first place!" Yunalesca spat.

Luca felt as though he had been punched in the gut. Her kind attitude toward him being an engineer a few days ago had been no warning to the anger and disgust in her voice now. Had it all been an act then, or was it an act now? Had something happened that changed her mind? He could not comprehend it. She would cast him no glance.

"No, I believe we have to create magical weapons to defeat this great evil. We have to create unstoppable summons that can truly engage the Demon in battle," Yunalesca said calmly.

"None of us are strong enough to create such a summon!"

"No. We're not. But _together_ we will be. We can create summons so large and powerful that they will throw the Demon from the sky and kill it!"

The buzz around the room was slowly turning to excitement. It might have become cheering if Luca, the young summoner with no summon, hadn't stood up and said in a loud voice, "It won't work."

The silence was immediate as all eyes turned to where Luca stood. The blue eyes of Yunalesca turned as well, touching him for the first time. Some called out that he should go back to Zanarkand. Others agreed. It was Yunalesca who gave him a chance.

"This is council, Ladies and Lords, and all who wish to be heard shall be heard." Her eyes once more settled on Luca and they were cold and hard. "Speak then, Luca of Zanarkand."

Luca swallowed the lump in his throat. Oh shit. Why had he just stood up? Why had he just said that? He rubbed his sweaty palms against the thighs of his pants. "It's not that . . .I . . . don't think you _could_ do it. I think that together you could create summons strong enough to kill Sin. But if you do create them and they do their job, it will only be the beginning of the problem.

"Think about it. The fiends. They are your summons, the ones you condemn to eternity in the Farplane after you are through with them. But they don't stay there, do they? No. They slip out. They wander. They kill. Now imagine your new summons. Gigantic. Terrifying. Powerful. Strong enough to even defeat Sin. Now imagine their job is done and they are exiled to the Farplane. They will _not_ remain there for long. So now, instead of Coyote fiends and Sandworm fiends and, bad enough, Behemoth King fiends, now we have fiends who can wipe out entire towns. Running around, unchecked and unstoppable because if you summon something that can kill them, THAT summon will in turn escape and wreak havoc as well.

"And then Sin! Once you kill Sin, it is out of your control. It will go to the Farplane only to escape as well. It'll start all over again to terrorize the next generation of our world. That cycle could go on for eternity, assuming we as the people survive long enough to see it!"

The silence was so complete that every last person in the room could hear Luca swallow.

When Yunalesca finally spoke, her voice was very soft and very deadly, "What would _you_ have us do, then?"

Luca looked nervously down at Vale who simply nodded her head in support. "I think . . . that we do need summons strong enough to defeat Sin. But they're not something that we can create. There must be such creatures out there. They need only to be found and acquired. Creatures that will voluntarily help us, that won't go on a rampage once their job is done.

"And their job won't be to kill Sin. It will merely be to weaken and immobilize it so that it can be magically chained to the Farplane, so that it can never escape and hurt our world and our peoples again."

Yunalesca's laugh was short and amused. "You propose that we 'find' sentient creatures to slow Sin down so we can use a magic that doesn't exist to lock it in the Farplane."

"The magic does exist," Luca insisted softly.

"Where is it? Who can wield it?" She was talking to him with no concern for who else was in the room and her tone was very dangerous. It was if she was daring him to admit to something.

He spoke slowly, "I can."

Yunalesca's face contorted into rage. She was absolutely offended by his entire being. "How? Is this some machina magic thought up by your fellow engineers?"

Luca went pale and that was all the rest of the room needed to hear. Most called for his immediate arrest. Some even called for his execution. But still some were doubting. The boy might be a corrupt engineer, but wasn't he right about the fiends escaping from the Farplane? How Sin would no doubt be able to do the same. Yunalesca's plan wouldn't work would it?

"We must leave," Vale stood quickly, taking Luca's arm. "I fear for your safety."

Luca numbly allowed himself to be ushered out by his guardians, ducking his head just in case it occurred to one of these fine ladies or lords to throw something at him.

"I have a feeling that guards will be sent for us soon. We must hurry back to our room and gather our things and be gone as soon as possible," Navazi said as he started running, robes swishing against the marble ground. Vale was running with a hand to her hip, even though she didn't wear her guns.

"I'm sorry," Luca said as he ran (his limp now more pronounced than when he walked), feeling miserable.

"You've nothing to be sorry for, Luca. You did the right thing. Even now, some of those summoners are questioning Yunalesca's plans, as they rightly should," Vale assured him as she looked back over her shoulder. There might have been some pride in her voice over the actions of her young charge.

They ran into their suite at full speed and everyone waiting for them leapt to their feet.

"Grab your shit," Vale shouted as she grabbed her guns and strapped them on. "We're leaving NOW."


	21. Escape from St Bevelle

Chapter 4 Part I

The last thing they wanted to see were those St. Bevelle temple guards in their green armor carrying their long rifles. Rumor had it that there was no talking to them. They followed orders: shoot first, give a shit later.

Luca's party nearly ran straight into them trying to get to the north walk of St. Bevelle but Vale guided them back south. "Macalania is our best bet. If we stay close to the White Waste, they won't bother sending men after us."

They were close to being home free when they turned a corner and ran into two summoners and eight guardians. Luca's guardians scrambled to a halt and immediately took up positions around him, weapons out. "Let us pass," Vale called out, her voice echoing down the long hall.

The enemy guardians remained still. The summoners ignored her, their attention turned to Luca. "What you said . . . was all that true?"

Luca swallowed. He could feel pursuit on his heels, and here they were chatting. "Yes." Behind them, the footfalls of multiple soldiers could be heard.

"Do you really have the ability to tie Sin to the Farplane so it cannot escape?"

"Yes."

The summoners glanced at each other and had themselves an inconvenient moment of silence. Their robes matched the banners of Bevelle strewn throughout the halls. After what seemed like an eternity, the first summoner turned. "My guardian, Tapal, will show you a way out. Go now. We'll stall the temple guards."

Luca didn't have time to express his thanks as his guardians jumped immediately into action, ushering him through the Bevellian summoner parties. One of the guardians broke off and ran ahead of them, leading them around one corner after another. They came to a hallway like any other, but the guard pushed aside a tapestry and opened a hidden door behind it.

"Follow this until the end. It should take you out just beyond the city."

Vale lead the guardians into the passage but Tapal grabbed Luca's arm and stopped him. "You had better be able to do what you said you could do. You have BETTER."

Luca could only nod as Tapal pushed him into the passage before closing the hidden door behind them.

-

The tunnel took them over an hour to traverse and dumped them right where the guardian had said it would, just outside the southern wall of the city. Vale kept them moving toward Macalania, veering them as west as possible until their path came upon the White Waste. The trees of Macalania gave way to the ice of the Waste for it's entire western stretch. No one dared live so close to such a cold desert. It was on the narrow line between that they traveled, on the very cusp of forest and ice.

When the boarder fell away in icy cliffs, they were forced to keep in the shadow of the crystalline trees. After the end of their second day of quick travel, when the terrain was simply too dangerous to negotiate in the dark, they stopped for camp. They were all tired enough to drop, but Luca felt restless and offered to take first watched. His back was devastated from two days of walking on not-quite-straight legs and he sat against a tree in hopes of pushing out some of the knots in his muscles.

Luca sat and thought. Wow. He had just single handedly screwed up things for all his friends. No one had really paid attention to them before, even as odd as their party seemed, what with two guado and a ronso. Now, he doubted they'd be able to sneak through a city at night without being recognized. Recognized, and then promptly shot.

When Siddah woke up for her shift, Luca excused himself to answer nature's call and wandered into the trees. He made sure to keep the fire within sight. The light was shining off the silvery trunks and branches like and army of dancing will-o-wisps. He glanced around in wonder and imagined they were faeries.

As he buttoned his pants, he noticed that beyond some far trees was complete darkness. The fire light shone off no branches, trunks or leaves. He glanced back at the fire and then walked toward the place where the world seemed to end. He found himself with the forest at his back and the icy drop of a cliff before him. Beyond that was a field of half clouded stars shining bright over the black void of the White Waste. When the clouds broke and freed the moon, the light splashed down across the Waste and took Luca's breath with it. The ice sparkled like diamonds and the snow was swept around in circles by the wind, looking like a turbulent lake. Luca stared, transfixed for so long that when he heard the commotion in the woods behind him, he had no idea how long he had been standing out on the cold edge of the forest.

The first sound was a gunshot. It sounded different than Vale's revolvers, and the sound was followed up but an inhuman howl. At first he thought it was the cry of a fiend, but then the howl turned into a name. Luca's name. It was Gira, calling out a warning. She sounded somewhere between badly injured and incredibly pissed off. Luca turned and stood with his back to the cliff, not knowing what to do. The interior of the forest looked dark after having watched the snow of the Waste reflect moonlight into his eyes. He strained in vain to see anything but even the campfire was lost to him.

Multiple gunshots rang out now. Only a few of them did he recognized as Vale's guns. The sound of many people moving aggressively came to him, slightly dampened by the trees. His guardians were engaged in a battle and he was lost on the edge of the night.

Then, Luca heard a specific set of movements that sounded closer and were coming closer by the moment. It was the sound of confused stumbling but of course it was dark, so he could only safely assume that it was someone trying to find and kill him. He took a step back and his heel slipped. He was able to right himself, but as he did so, he looked back and saw how close he just happened to be to the edge of that there cliff. However, moving forward would only push him into the arms of whoever was coming for him. He stood there, unsure of what to do.

Lightening streaked down suddenly from the sky and slammed into the ground somewhere inside the woods. It was so close that it made Luca clamp his hands over his ears and squat down. As he did, he noticed the trembling of the ground below him from the impact. A second strike occurred moments later and the shudder of the ground was more pronounced. In the half deafness right after the blast and tremble, Luca heard the unmistakable groan of ice. Beneath the trees he saw snow on rock. Beneath his own feet, Luca only saw snow on ice.

Before him, a figure burst from the dark woods and it took him a few seconds to recognize the white mage guado. Siddah's eyes widened when she saw him. "Luca! Come with me!"

Luca stepped toward her as she stepped toward him. At that moment, a third strike of lightening shattered the night. Luca felt the ground snap beneath his feet as the entire ice ledge he had been standing on broke free from the cliff. Siddah slid into him as the chunk of ice began to shift down, tipping them backwards.

It was all slow motion after that.

Siddah could feel Luca's arms around her and couldn't quite figure out what was happening. She looked up at his face. He seemed to be looking over his shoulder, his blond hair flying around wildly. Then he turned his head to her and his blue eyes were wide with disbelief.

Siddah saw the ground then, rushing up to meet them at an incomprehensible speed. It was amazing but there was no sound, none at all. It was like they were suspended in space. They couldn't even hear the wind rushing past their ears.

Somehow, Siddah's body reacted when her mind refused to cope. Her long fingers were quickly constructing some spell that they believed my save their own body and that of their summoner. Suddenly a blast of frigid air rushed up at them. Siddah could see Luca's hair and clothes whipping up, her own robes feeling like they were trying to tear off her body. But they were falling slower now. She didn't know how she knew, just simply knew.

She watched as the cliff face that they had been standing on smashed to the ground. But it wasn't ground. It was a water. This was made obvious when the mass of ice crashed straight through the sleek surface of ice and half disappeared beneath it before bobbing up again. It happened at an almost funny slowness, but then something that big could never move fast doing anything.

They were still dropping fast. It would only be a matter of seconds now before they reached the surface of the ancient, frozen lake. Siddah screamed for Luca to brace himself.

Siddah hit the ice with a bone crunching thud. She felt her collarbone snap and she shrieked at the pain. A half second later, as her body was sliding across the surface of the lake, she saw Luca hit the ice. Instead of hitting and sliding himself, his metal feet slammed straight through the surface and he disappeared beneath the ice.

Siddah's momentum stopped and she laid there on the ice, staring at the place where Luca should have landed, her body screaming in silent agony. She couldn't move. She couldn't speak. She couldn't do anything. He had been there, then he was gone. She might have stayed like that until the pain had caused her to pass out if a hand hadn't suddenly burst out of the hole in the ice, stretching in a panic towards the sky. She saw water splashing and heard a gurgle as the hand slapped against the edge of the ice.

Her senses returned to her then and she pushed herself onto her belly. Her left shoulder and collar bone flared so painfully that her vision went black for a moment. Still, through it, she called out, "_Swim, Luca! Swim!_"

But when her vision cleared, she didn't see a hand, nor did she hear splashing or labored breathing. She then remembered that, with fifty pounds of metal attached to his legs, Luca could not swim.


	22. The Second Trial

Chapter 4 Part II

Siddah felt herself blacking out. NO! She slammed her fist into the ice, confusing her body as to where the pain was coming from and thereby waking her up._ If you pass out now, Luca dies. The High Summoner will die and it will be all your fault._

Siddah uncurled her fist and reached out, digging her long fingers into the ice. With a loud groan, she dragged her body a few inches across the ice. Half of her body was limp and bathed in pain and could help her in no way, shape or form. The coldness of the ice bit through her robes and set her body trembling. She wasn't going to make it in time like this. She rolled quickly onto her back and traced a Curaga spell on her arm before turning back on her stomach and dragging herself on as the spell set in.

Halfway to the ice trap, her arm finished mending and she got up, sliding across the ice. When she got to the hole, she flopped back on her belly and looked down into the water. It was pitch black and small chunks of ice floated calmly in it. The liquid itself was cold enough to actually be slushy. How deep was this? Is there an undertow? Had Luca already been swept away and drowned in the darkness of this forgotten lake?

Scratching up a light spell, Siddah dropped a ball of pure light into the hole. It floated down, illuminating the depths as it went. Nothing. For so long she saw absolutely nothing. "Please, Luca, Please . . ." a tear slipped from Siddah's cheek and splashed into the water. The light was almost deep enough to be gone when it glinted off something metallic. It could have been a trick of the light or of her eyes, but it was good enough for her. Taking a breath, Siddah plunged into the water.

The sheer cold was almost enough to stop her heart. As it was, it felt as though she was being stabbed all over with ice hot blades. for a moment she couldn't move, her breath having been forced out of her by the severe environmental change. Then she kicked and surfaced. The air seemed warm in comparison. She sucked in a long breath and then dove back down.

Siddah swam down into nothing, getting nowhere. She lit another light spell and swam beside it down and down. Or was she going left? Right? Up again? It was so hard to tell.

The light was leaving her behind, falling away faster and faster. She was swimming slower, her strength failing her. Her chest had begun to hurt, realizing that no new oxygen was forthcoming. Already, parts of her body had begun to panic. _I'm going to die._

_He's already dead, Siddah. You can't save him. Give up. Save yourself._

It was tempting. It was very tempting.

_No, if Luca dies, that's it anyway. I'll die here if that's how it has to be._

She pushed her arms harder but it seemed like she was only using up her energy to catch up to her own death. Then, there below her, that flash of metal again. This time she was close and also saw the light pass over pale hair, a white shirt and brown leggings. The burst of speed was incredible as Siddah's mission was renewed.

He seemed to be sinking fast (was there no bottom to this lake?), his legs pulling him ever downward. Eventually, Siddah's long fingers snagged his shirt, and then Luca's legs were dragging her down as well. He was unbelievably heavy and his face was as white as snow, his lips and eyelids blue. He looked dead.

Siddah was seeing spots before her eyes. Her view of Luca was fading as the light spell went on it's way toward the bottom of the lake (at least she knew that way was down). The fear that seized her was so sudden and powerful that she jerked. As she jerked, she felt Luca's weight shift upward, against the will of those damn mechanical legs. She jerked him again and again he moved upward for a moment. That was it. If she was going to do it, it would have to be like that.

She jerked and tugged and pulled, her chest and head aching, the panic more severe. Yet still, upward she went, dragging her ward behind her. It seemed like forever until she saw a patch in the darkness. A deep grey that wasn't quite black. She kicked toward it. Another eternity later, her head cleared the surface of the water and she sucked in air in large greedy gasps as the stars sparkled far above. She didn't allow herself the pleasure for long. She pulled her body out of the water, and then went to the great task of pulling Luca out behind her. More than once he slid back in and more than once she thought she had lost him again, but somehow she managed and ended up dragging him away from the hole and the weakened ice around it.

Siddah only dragged him as far as necessary before leaning over him. He was dead. He looked as though carved from ice, pale hair frosted back from his forehead. He was rather beautiful in repose and tears stung her eyes and carved burning paths down her frozen cheeks.

He had been in below zero water. Hadn't she heard that one could be revived from that, even after up to twenty minutes? Was it possible? The hell if she wasn't going to try.

Tearing open Luca's shirt, Siddah charged a small, portable lightening spell on her fingertips, a trick she had learned from her brother. She placed two fingers on the chilly flesh of his chest, one to either side of his heart. The second hisskin was touched, the electricity jolted through his heart. She leaned down to listen. Nothing. The second jolt yielded nothing as well. The third jolt, however, rewarded her with a weak thud. Good enough for now. She'd have to watch it to make sure it continued.

Leaning over him, she plugged his nose and put her mouth to his, breathing out her own air. She did this and watched his heart, having to restart it once more, until she was dizzy. She was on the verge of collapsing herself but she wouldn't give up until she had to. She took a breath and gave it to Luca. Took another and once more gave it to Luca. When she leaned in for another breath, her mouth was met with water.

She backed up quickly as Luca forced the water from his own lungs. He fell onto his side as he coughed and gagged, lake water spilling across the ice. Siddah couldn't believe it. She just sat there and stared at Luca's heaving back. She had pulled herself together by the time he was done and had fallen onto his back again. She leaned over him, crying openly.

Luca looked up at Siddah with half open eyes. When he spoke, it was softly, his hard earned breath smoking. "You're blue."

Siddah laughed. Her skin was indeed whitish blue, having been in the same waters as he. They looked like a pair of breathing ice sculptures enjoying the night.

-

Siddah used up all her magic energy curing both Luca and herself from hypothermia, drying their clothing with a wind spell, and warming them up with a Firaga spell. Both weak from their ordeal, they spent the rest of the night curled together below a fire spell that was hot enough to warm but not enough to melt the ice right out from under them.

They awoke to a blizzard. It was all Siddah could do to keep a strong enough protect spell up so that they weren't blown off their feet. They couldn't see where they were going, so they decided to stay still. They would have sat there all day if Siddah hadn't gotten the incredible urge to start moving. Once she stood up and began to walk, Luca had to follow or be left behind to the rage of the weather.

"Sid, where are we going? Siddah?" Luca walked a step behind her, arms crossed over his chest to keep his ripped shirt closed.

"Just . . . a walk . . ." she said absently, even though she was very certain that she had to go in THIS direction, whichever direction it might be.

Luca stared over her head, trying to see what she was so eager to get to. All he saw was swirling snow.

"Come on, maybe we shouldn't go anywhere. They'll find us easier if we don't move. We'll be able to see better when all this snow stops. Sid, come on . . ."

But Siddah wasn't listening. She even picked up her pace until she was almost running across the ice. Luca nearly killed himself trying to keep up. Suddenly she stopped. Luca stopped short so he wouldn't run into her and ended up slipping. He fell hard on his ass. "Ow!"

"Shh," Siddah was straining to see and listen.

Luca frowned and looked passed her in a similar attempt. He thought she was being silly until, wait, did he just see something move? Yes, right there. "Is it Va -"

"Shh!"

As Luca stood up, the figure materialized before them. No. It wasn't Vale. It wasn't human, gaudo, ronso or engineer either.

"No fair," Luca groaned.

The creature was a towering ten feet tall with blue and white fur. Even standing up, it's hands were nearly dragging on the ground. As they watched, the thing raised it's fists in preparation of a fight.

"Wendigo fiend," Siddah breathed softly.

Luca's eyes caught something shimmering on the icy ground just behind the wendigo, but didn't have time to wonder, as the fiend chose that moment to attack. The double punch to the protect sphere was so hard that it knocked the entire bubble back ten feet and Siddah fell right into Luca's lap.

"Siddah, I'm going to need you to distract it. I can send it, but I need a minute. Can you make sure it won't hit us again?"

"I can try."

Scrambling to their feet, they both set to their task. Siddah threw up a reflect spell immediately and the second attack was reflected back at the wendigo, throwing it a few feet and causing it to holler in rage. Luca raised his voice in the lullaby and the wendigo yelled out even louder.

"You almost done? I got one more spell and them I'm spent!" Siddah warned and then threw her Flare spell. That in combination with Luca's sending rendered the fiend harmless. Moments later, it disintegrated into a swarm of pyreflies that drifted about before zipping down into a strange metallic pool on the ice.

"That's a . . .that's . . ."

"I know," Siddah said calmly and started toward it again.

"Wait, it's dangerous. . ."

But Siddah would hear none of it. She stepped out of the protect bubble and when Luca went to follow her, he found himself locked inside. He pounded at the protective shell and yelled. "Siddah! No!"

He could only watched as she walked toward the Farplane hole, robes whipping about her. The moment her foot touched the smooth surface, a brilliant light burst from it, engulfing her. As Luca watched, a large, intricate glyph jumped up around the column of light. It immediately burned into his brain. Every loop and cross, every detail was ingrained in his thought. He looked at it until he could no longer. He curled down and pressed his face to the ice to block out the light.

Eventually he was aware that the sound of the blizzard had died down. He sat up slowly and looked to see that, indeed, the storm had ended. The protect spell around him flickered and died. He saw Siddah on the ground a handful of feet ahead and he ran to her. The metallic pool was gone. He pulled her up into her arms. "Siddah? Come on, Sid . . ."

Siddah'sice blueeyes flickered open. She stared at him in confusion a moment and then smiled. "Did you see it?"

". . .Yes."

"Good. Remember it."

"I don't think I could forget if I tried."


	23. Ascention

Please see our website for a formal apology. - L&L

Chapter 4 Part III

Siddah regained her strength with a Cure until she was well enough to start moving again. The snow storm had died off after a bit and they were finally able to get their bearings in the cold wasteland. They had wandered away from the cliff but had not lost sight of it. As they moved back toward it, they began to make out the small trees atop the rise.

The closer they came to Macalania, the more they despaired. The cliff was straight up as far north and south as they could see. No paths up, no way to reach the woods again. They walked a few miles south until Luca stopped. "They're there. Up there. I can feel Vale and Nikolas. They're very worried," he stared up the cliff face, brows furrowing.

"You're sure?" Siddah asked, looking up as well. This rise of cliff looked the same as the miles they had passed.

"I'm positive. Navazi . . .and Gira. They're all there. I can't feel Noobin, but I'm sure he's with them," Luca insisted.

Siddah nodded, "there's one way to let them know we're here." She backed away from Luca and raised her hands. With a few words, she shot a flare of light up into the sky where it soared above the cliff and tree tops of Macalania. It dissipated in a loud flash that left their ears ringing.

". . .Why . . .why did you "

"Shh. Wait for it," Siddah instructed.

So Luca did, not quite sure why. After a count of ten seconds, he heard the sound of two gunshots up above, followed by the high shine of another flare spell.

"You're right, they're right above us," Siddah said with awe. Luca looked up the sheer wall of ice.

"Luca, you remember that gylph?"

Luca turned and looked at her with a frown. ". . . yeah. . ."

"Use it."

"Sid, we have no idea what it'll do. I don't want to risk it."

"It's okay, Luca. Just draw it."

"Where? In the snow?" but the snow beneath their feet was thin and skittered over the icy surface of the frozen lake like white leaves.

"In the air."

Luca blinked, raised his hand and wiggled his finger through the air. Nothing happened of course. He looked over at his guardian skeptically.

"Think of the glyph and draw it in the air," Siddah instructed patiently.

Luca sighed. Oh fine. Mind as well humor her. He thought a moment on the glyph, then began to move his finger. After he finished the first full arch, a line of light appeared in the air where his finger had passed. It glowed purple like a black light. Startled, he pulled his finger away quickly. "Holy crap!" The line of light faded.

"Good," Siddah was growing excited. "Again. Finish it this time."

Luca swallowed and lifted his hand again. When the line of light appeared this time he kept going, drawing the glyph faster with each finished arch. Soon he had it finished. He dropped his hand and stared at the complete form hanging in the air like a ghost. It pulsed for a few seconds, grew extremely bright, then faded away.

Luca frowned, "now what?"

When he didn't get a response, he turned to Siddah. She had moved back from him a few feet and was clutching at herself, shivering from head to foot. Her face, contorted in pain, was pale white around blue lips. As he watched, she fell to her knees, gasping out large plumes of hot breath.

" . . .C . . c . . cold . . ." But then her smoky breath began to fade even as she continued gasping. It was as though the breath in her lungs was now as cold as the air around her.

Luca took a step toward her, scared out of his mind but stopped when he saw the glyph he had drawn glowing beneath the ice. It was much large now, five feet in circumference, and Siddah was curled up in agony at the very center of it.

Suddenly, from nowhere, five gigantic pieces of ice formed like shards flew down and slammed into the ice around her, obscuring her from view. The impact sent Luca flying back. He hit the ice and skidded to a stop a full fifteen feet away. Gathering himself, he scrambled to his feet, shouting her name. He saw a figure moving behind the walls of ice, white blue and impossibly tall. Then the ice shattered. Luca protected his face as best he could before he looked up to see the creature that stood in front of him.

She had to be at least ten feet tall, her skin and clothes seeming to mix together in shimmering white and blue. Her blue hair was thick, wrapped in cloth with a long tail that dragged on the ice behind her. He could see large metal hoops imbedded in the ends of each thick bundle of hair.

The face that looked at him was familiar. Large eyes and lips, small pointed nose . . .

" . . . Siddah?"

The woman stared down at him with clear blue eyes. It looked as though a thick coat of ice covered her mouth, keeping her silent. She seemed to realize this and didn't bother trying to speak. Instead she turned her gaze up the sheer cliff. Luca simply stared at her.

He watched as she pulled a cloth from her shoulders. It was thin and shone as though it were made of frost. When she moved toward him, he took a fearful step back. Seeing this, the being stopped and a feeling of Siddah washed over him. He could feel her and smell her. Almost hear her. She was calming and Luca slowly quieted.

"Sorry," he mumbled, lips cold. "You know, I'm just kinda weirding out here."

The being nodded and moved forward again. Luca managed to stay still, even though the already frigid temperature dropped a few more dozen degrees. He could feel his face tighten as everything in his body that was prone to freezing began to do so. It soon began to hurt and he opened his mouth to cry out in pain only to find that his vocal chords were frozen solid.

The creature made a shushing gesture with her hand before sweeping the icy cloth around his shoulders. The second the cloth closed around him he immediately became warm. All his muscles, sore from two days of shivering, relaxed.

It felt so good that he didn't protest when she pulled him into her cold arms, carrying him like a small child. He sighed as he lay against her chest. He was barely aware now that she was walking horizontally up the cliff face, her back and hair hanging down to the surface of the lake below. It took only three minutes, but Luca nearly fell asleep in the interim. He could feel the Hymn just beneath the surface of her icy skin and in the rhythm of her breathing.

She stirred his mind as she stepped onto the ledge and walked a few feet into the fringe of Macalania Woods. His legs were a bit wobbly as she set him down but he managed not to fall on his ass. He shook his head to clear it and looked up at the sound of many people running through the underbrush.

Gira skidded to a stop on the slick ground when she saw Luca and his Summon. She stood up from all fours and sniffed the air in their direction. Her chain was still around her waist, so at least she wasn't in defensive mode.

The rest of Luca's guardians showed up a few moments later, face after face widening in surprise to see the large woman who seemed to be carved from ice.

"Well shit," Noobin said, rubbing the back of his neck.

They all seemed to know without asking that the creature was Siddah even without her gaudo fingers or green hair. Navazi stared at the creature he knew to be his sister, "can you . . . change her back?"

They all looked at Luca who frowned, "I . . . don't know. I can try . . ." He turned to Siddah who was watching him patiently. "Um . . . go away?"

Siddah blinked slowly at him.

Luca bit his lip and closed his eyes. This time he told the Summon that he thanked her, he appreciated her help. Could she please return to wherever she called her home until her gracious help was needed again.

The entity closed her eyes. Everything around them was suddenly coated with (another) layer of ice and she crumpled to the ground. As they watched, the form changed and shrunk until only Siddah remained, moaning and clutching her stomach.

Luca and Navazi were at her side in a second, helping her up, "are you alright? Are you okay?"

Siddah leaned against her brother with her hand to her head. She was pale and obviously in pain. "I'm alright. It'll pass."

Noobin, tapping at his stiff, frozen clothes, stepped closer. "So what was that, anyway?"

"It was what Luca told the Bevellian council existed. Summons strong enough to fight Sin who will help us of their own volition," Vale said, seeming highly pleased.

"How come Siddah turned into it?"

"It needed a willing soul," Siddah said tiredly. "It's been sentient for so long, waiting for a purpose. It's survived as a thought for eons . . ."

"Eons? That's a long time to be aware with nothing to amuse yourself with. How do you know we can trust it?"

"We can trust it," both Siddah and Luca insisted together. Noobin grumbled and fell silent.

"How did this happen?" Navazi asked.

"We found it and it asked me if I was willing to give my life and everything I love to defeat Sin."

"And you said yes?"

"I said yes."

Luca put his arms around his shoulders now that the splendid cloth was gone. "I think we're going to have to travel and find the rest."

"How will we know where they are?" Nikolas questioned.

"They are waiting between the worlds, where the fabric of this place is thin and pierced. Where have there been fiend attacks?"

"Um . . . fiends attack everywhere, Luke," Noobin pointed out.

Luca shook his head, "Yeah, but where is the attack constant? Where are there ALWAYS fiends running around. What areas have complained about them the most?"

The were all quiet for a moment.

"Remien has a wall blocking off the northwest section of the city. They say that there are so many fiends that their army can't destroy them all. Now, they're hoping they can simply contain them to keep their citizens safe," Nikolas offered.

Luca nodded, "Where else?"

"Djose road," Navazi commented. "They've shut down the crossing because dozens of people have died of fiend attacks that can't be controlled. They had to open a different route through the caverns."

"And there's Kilika Island. Sin attacked it and Besaid Island about a year ago, breaking the highway bridge between them. Kilika was cracked in half and they've said that fiends keep pouring out of the crevice that Sin left. They imploded half the island to try to bury it and fill in the maw, but they're still slipping out and running through the woods. They can barely keep them out of what's left of the port district," Siddah injected.

"Right, okay. Anything else?"

"Besaid," Nikolas finished. "They are so many fiends there that the island is no longer inhabitable. All the citizen who survived Sin's attack had to deport to Kilika and Mana."

"There we have it, then," Luca said calmly. "Which is closest?"

"Remien, but it's on the far side of Bevelle. There's no way we'll get to it with bounties on our heads. The next closest is Djose road to the southeast."

"Then Djose it is."

"Wait. Woah wait. We're going TOWARD the hundreds of angry fiends?" Noobin frowned nervously.

"That we are," Nikolas grinned.


	24. A Samurai's Best Friend

Chapter 4 Part IV

Having to cross the Moonflow on their way to Djose Road was heart wrenching. Thousands of tents were set up on the northern bank to house surviving families who did not yet have a place to go. There were no signs of the amazing city that once stood atop the water except for broken roads jutting into the river like rotted docks.

They had to stay two days in the tent town until they could buy their way across the Moonflow. All of the ships had been destroyed and the only way across seemed to be to rope a Shoopuf into the job. This sucked because Shoopufs smelled atrocious. Noobin felt the need to point this fact out every other minute during their two hour ride.

"Man, this Shoopuf smells like Luca's face," Noobin said with a grin as he leaned back against the make-shift rope seat.

"Shut up," Luca said, "Your voice is giving me shingles."

No one could think of a comment to make on that.

The south shore of the Moonflow was just as littered with tents and they stayed another day before heading down the eastern road. The broken dirty stretch was pretty much empty as it only lead to or came from Djose Road. The path so far stretched through a soft green forest that didn't seem threatening at all. They saw the barricade in the distance and could count the number of guards as they moved closer. Half a dozen exactly.

"There is no passage. Move back up the road, please," the guard at the top of the barrier announced in cool boredom.

"We know the danger and we wish to pass," Luca called out as they came to a stop when they could go no further.

"Not possible. Turn around."

One of the guards on the ground leaned over to them, "the fiends are worse than ever here. It's scary just to be posted on the border."

Luca raised his face back to the guard above. "I am a Summoner with my guardians. We came to see if we can't help you with your fiend problem."

There was a quiet among the guards as they absorbed this. The blond guy didn't seem too dangerous but the rest of the group was clearly armed to the teeth. A summoner and his guardians indeed.

In the end they figured, hell, why not? Still, they made Luca sign a waiver that said if they get themselves killed, it was their own damn fault. The actually official document was worded a bit nicer than that of course.

The party walked through the gate of the barrier as it was opened for them and were attacked on all sides by . . . twittering birds and warm sunlight. Well, so far so good.

Vale took out a few flying fiends from a distance but they were otherwise undisturbed. At least for the first fifteen minutes. When the basilisk slid from behind a large tree, Luca nearly screamed. Man, he did NOT like basilisks.

Vale let out a few shots but it wasn't enough to stop the creature from turning Navazi immediately to stone. Luca was horrified but Siddah merely spelled him and he returned to normal, though badly injured.

Luca expected Gira to jump right into the fray as she usually did but she was just standing there, upright and very still with her large hand in front of her face.

As she was doing this, another basilisk slid into view followed by three coyotes and two divebeaks. Gira muttered something in her guttural tongue and the first basilisk roared in protest.

In response, Gira drew in a deep breath and leaned forward, roaring in return, but as she did all of the fiends before her turned instantly to stone. The others rushed in and battered at each frozen fiend until they shattered.

"Whoa, geez!" Luca's mouth feel open as he looked at Gira. She wavered where she was, eyes closed as though she might be sick. "What WAS that?"

"Lancet," Gira growled before starting to fall. Without thinking, Nikolas moved over and took her arm. One large hand clamped over the armor on his shoulder and he was nearly pushed into the ground as Gira used him to keep her balance.

"What's a 'Lancet'?" Luca looked to Vale who only shrugged.

Navazi, however, knew, "it's an ability her people have. She absorbed the basilisks ability to turn things into stone. It wears her out though. Obviously. She can't use it too often." Siddah was healing her brother from the bad effects of being stoned.

"Can't Siddah just heal her?"

"Is not same kind of hurt," Gira growled softly as she slowly let go of her support. Nikolas stepped back and tried not to visibly clutch his bruised shoulder. "Gira be fine soon."

They slowed their walk so as not to push Gira too hard but she was still the first to know something was up a little further down the road. She stopped walking, dropped to all fours and began to growl. Not in warning or fear but in pure unadulterated hatred. A stripe of blue fur stood up along her back down to her tail where the end puffed up like a large, yellow moogle bob.

They all turned to the direction she was growling in to see some shrubbery shaking just off the road. Weapons were already drawn so they only waited. A large black nose popped out of the bush followed by a mass of matted off-white fur. The fur beneath the nose split and a large pink tongue lolled out.

"Back off, Gira," Vale said, lowering her guns. "It's just a dog."

The large round dog trotted out of the underbrush and right into the road. It sat down on it's haunches a few feet from Nikolas and panted contentedly. If the thing could see, it was a miracle. The thick dirty fur covered its eyes just as surely as it covered the rest of its body. The fur along its belly, legs and mouth were dark with dirt and one leg sported what could have been dried blood.

"That is one sorry excuse for a dog," Nikolas snorted and re-sheathed his sword in annoyance. The dog sniffed the air in his direction. It was then that it finally noticed the ronso who was still growling at it. A low rumbled started in its own throat as the dog lowered its head.

"Gira, please stop," Luca begged. "We're not here to fight dogs."

Gira looked like she might disobey her Summoner but she shook herself and stood. The stripe of raised hair on her back was still rather prominent. "Keep thing away from Gira or Gira will eat it."

"Let's keep moving. The longer we are still the more fiends will come together to kill us. We need to find the Farplane hole before we get eaten ourselves," Vale began to walk.

The Summoner's party didn't protest as they walked past the dog and began to move down the road again. The dog watched them go as Nikolas took the rear. It panted at them happily as they walked away before deciding that it would join the party. It removed its ample bottom from the dirt road and began to trot after them.

Nikolas, always vigilant, notice the pathetic creature following them almost right away. He assumed that throwing his If-Looks-Could-Kill glare would scare the thing off but it did not. He picked up some stones from the road and threw them at the dog. It nimbly skipped out of the way, quite a feat for a creature that was so large and seemed so old. It had fun as it hopped around the stones that rained down at its head.

Then Nikolas made a huge mistake.

Pissed out of his mind, he moved to the side of the road and picked up a stick from beneath a random tree. He threw it hard and far in his anger and it passed wide left of the dog. The dog turned and was immediately after the new toy. It snatched it up from where it had landed, turned back. With large flopping mats, it ran straight for Nikolas.

" . . . Oh damn."

The dog ran up to him, slobbery stick in its jaw as it ran in circles around Nikolas' walking feet, prancing and skittering about in joy. The party stopped and turned to the back.

"Dear Yevon, what did you do?" Siddah asked in alarm.

"I threw . . . a . . . stick at . . . it . . ."

The entire party cringed.

"Well done, Nikolas," Vale said. "It's your problem now."

Nikolas grumbled and kicked at the dog who danced out of the way of his foot and back again, trying to ineffectually bark around the stick in its mouth. It went like that for a while. Nikolas would kick and the dog would think it was all great fun. It had found its best friend.

When they were attacked next, the dog ran off into the trees, hopefully to never be seen again. The bunyip ran at Gira and knocked her right off her feet. Nikolas' sword slid right off the fiend's armored sides and Vale's bullets ricocheted away into the trees. Navazi's lightening seemed to be working but only barely. The longer it took them to kill the first, the more that waddled into view. Soon there were eight bunyips staring them down and they were still busy trying to kill the first one.

"This is no good. We can't get through the shell and more just keep showing up," Nikolas growled.

Luca was considering summoning Siddah when Noobin told everyone to back up. "I wanna try something out."

He dropped his heaviest tote to the ground where it landed with a metallic thud. Nikolas wasn't about to stop his ineffectual attack. Noobin was useless. What could he possibly do?

Noobin unlaced the bag and pulled out the largest single-person gun any of them had ever seen. The barrel was nearly as big as Noobin's head. Leather straps hung down from the belly of the beast. With a grunt, Noobin heaved the mechanical monstrosity onto his shoulder, somehow balancing it as his skilled fingers deftly secured the leather straps around his chest and arm. Seeing this, Nikolas decided to back off.

It took less than fifteen seconds for Noobin to ready his weapon. He flicked the scope down in front of one eye while Navazi kept the fiends at bay as well as he could with his lightening. It wouldn't last for long.

"You'd better hurry up, Noobin," Navazi called out between shouting his spells.

Humming to himself, Noobin hit a series of buttons all over and the thing buzzed to life. "One minutes and counting. T-minus fifty-nine . . . fifty-eight . . ."

"No, Noobin! It needs to be faster than that!" Navazi hollered over the lightening strikes.

"Oh fine. Three-two-one "

The light the cannon omitted was blinding and absolutely silent. Only the skilled engineer could watch, protected as he was by his goggles, while the light sliced through the entire cluster of bunyips. The beam of light was as thick as a ninety degree angle and the fiends but could do nothing but disintegrate before its might.

When the light was gone, the other turned back to see only pyreflies skittering away.

"Man, I'm awesome," Noobin sighed happily.

The cannon's hum faded into silence and Noobin patted it for a job well done.

"Wicked, man," Luca grinned.

Nikolas wasn't as happy. "You would use an engineer machine against fiends!"

"Hell yeah. Why not?"

"Are you TRYING to call Sin down on our heads?"

Noobin snorted, "Pssh. Chill out man. Do you believe everything the Maesters of Yevon spoonfeed you?"

Nikolas' face darkened.

"Exactly. That's what's wrong with the world today. People like you who willingly believe everything they're told."

Nikolas took a threatening step toward him but Luca stepped in the way. "Wait. Okay, stop. Nik, calm down. Noobin, shut up."

"Besides," Vale interjected, "You have more important things to worry about, Nikolas," as she nodded at his feet.

The dog was back, sitting with its long pink tongue hanging out with the stick at its feet.

" . . . Oh crud."


	25. Wet Dog Smell

Chapter 4 Part V

"I think it's a girl."

"How in the world could you possible know that?" Nikolas paused a moment to challenge Noobin before he went back to picking his teeth with a knife.

"Oh, I don't know, but she's really well tempered. And guys are usually hot heads. Hence: girl." Noobin was busy carefully cutting away the mats in front of the dog's eyes. He wouldn't bother with the rest of the body, but the creature at least deserved to see. The dog was sitting very patiently, licking Noobin's hand whenever it came too close to its muzzle.

They had dropped camp in the middle of the road. It was safer than beneath the trees and they'd get in no ones way as there were no people about for miles anyway. They were sleeping in half shifts now, half the group awake, half the group asleep. Luca had been told he did not have to stay up for watch but he had insisted. He still fell asleep two hours into the first watch and Vale let him lie. He would get the most sleep of them all tonight.

Noobin freed the dark eyes from the mat of dirty fur and they sparkled in the firelight as the dog finally looked up at him. It ran a huge sloppy tongue across Noobin's face. When it got too close to his mouth, Noobin rolled away, wiping his face with a laugh. "Nasty. Hey, Nik, I think your dog likes me."

"It's not my dog," Nik ground around the blade in his mouth.

The dog made a sound of protest and hopped up, going right to Nik's side as if to see, See? Look at my pretty eyes? How can you not LOVE these eyes? Nikolas put a large hand against the side of the dog's head and pushed. It whined a little but could not help being sliding a few steps away. It sat as far as Nik's arm could push it and looked at him, body shaking with the excitement only a dog can truly muster.

"You should name her."

"I'd rather not."

Siddah was sitting back and listening with light amusement on her bed pallet between Navazi and Luca. She didn't feel the need to add to the conversation.

"Fine. I'll name her. How about . . . Angelo?"

"I thought you said it was a girl."

"Alright, Angela."

"No."

Noobin scratched at the stubble on his chin as he thought. He was getting tired but he knew he'd never fall asleep with Nikolas awake to kick him in the kidneys to wake him up. "How about Cid?"

"Is that even a name?"

"Sure it is. I hear it everywhere I go. It seems one person in every town seems to be named Cid."

Nikolas ran his tongue over his teeth. Ah, nice and picked. He wiped the blade off on his blanket and went in search of his whetting rock. "Cid is a stupid name."

"Grr. Fine. Let's see . . . how about Red XIII?"

"Red-Thirteen? What does that even MEAN?"

"I dunno, but doesn't it sound badass? Though only if you have an X and three I's at the end. Because then it's cool."

The sound of Nikolas sharpening his knife was soft and smooth in the night and the dog moved an inch closer to him.

"Nanaki?"

Nikolas looked up and leaned his head to the side, finally thoughtful. "Well, that's not bad . . ."

"No," Noobin said quickly. "Nevermind. I've decided I don't like it. It's just another N name. Forget I mentioned it."

The dog moved another inch closer to Nikolas. The old samurai didn't notice.

"Oh shit! I got it! The best name ever! Get this: Mog the Dog."

Nikolas stared at him across the fire and was wondering how fast he could jump up, grab Noobin by the neck and toss him into the roaring flames. He wondered if he could do it before Vale woke and stopped him. Or Luca woke and gave him those sad why-would-you-do-that eyes.

Noobin interpreted the look incorrectly. "Yeah, I thought you'd like it because it rhymes and rhyming is fun."

"I don't like it."

"Gads, man, if you keep fighting me, the poor dog will never get named!"

The dog shifted a little bit closer.

"I could care less what you name it. You could name it Dipshit for all I care."

Noobin scratched his chin again. "Well I could. Perhaps call him Dipper for short, so as not to offend the ladies. . . but I think I like Mog the Dog better. And so shall it be. Mog the Dog."

Mog the Dog wuffed a little and settled down yet another inch closer to Nikolas where it remained until the samurai made the mistake of falling asleep.

- - - -

Gira did most of the dispatching on the second shift so that Vale wouldn't use her bullets and wake the others unless she had to. Still, she got in on the action once or twice, using her long knives to kill the fiends silently. Navazi barely had to get up and this turned out for the best. He'd been more and more quiet as they walked down Djose Road, always looking around but calmly so. As though he wasn't expecting fiends. As though he was expecting something wonderful.

The rain came on and off, usually so light it was really no more than a mist that cooled their foreheads and tickled their noses. It didn't wake them when they were asleep and it didn't bother them when awake. Luca, Noobin and Siddah woke to a light cool layer of mist over the faces. Nikolas woke to a smell wet dog with it's head on his chest.

"Wha - - OYE! Get off!" Nikolas sat up quickly and Mog the Dog had to scramble back just as quickly to avoid getting a clock to the head as Nik swung his fist. It plunked its bottom down when it measured that it was safely out arms reach and sat there panting happily. "Damn mutt. My god, what is that smell?"

Everyone made an attempt to keep their laughter silent and turned away when even their grins were too loud. Nikolas managed to hear them anyway.

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up," he scowled as he pulled his gear together. "This dog'll be lucky if he doesn't end up lunch."


	26. The Third Trial

Chapter 4 Part VI

There was no way to tell if they were any closer to or further from the Tear as they negotiated their way down Djose Road. In every direction, the fiend attacks were viciously consistent. Navazi's lightning spells laid down a suppressing fire and was the only thing that stopped them from being overrun at every turn.The dog gave up being scared after the third attack of the morning and it stayed close to Nikolas, growling at anything that tried to sneak up on the old samurai. Had Nikolas the time, he would have swore at it for trying to protect what didn't need to be protected.

Noobin pulled out his cannon only when things were dire. It needed at least a half hour to charge between blasts. In the meanwhile, he tossed handmade grenades and stayed in the center of the protective circle of guardians beside Luca.

Luca didn't want to call Siddah's Summon unless there was no other choice. She had been so tired for so long after she had returned to herself the first time and he feared she would be too weak to defend herself if she had to.

They neared the joint of Djose Road where the southward stretch bent suddenly to the west. Most of the trees here had been ripped down by over-aggressive fiends and animal carcasses lay strewn everywhere. Luca found he could only send a few fiends at a time. He got one or two a fight, three if he tried really hard, but the rest died by the hands of his skilled guardians and the pyreflies dispersed before he could send them home.

Approaching the Djose joint, they found themselves being slowly pushed off the road and into the small strip of trees that would give out to a plateau edge in some 200 feet. They could already hear the ocean crashing greedily against the rocks below. They worked as hard as they could to force their way back onto the road as some of the trees began to give way to rocks and boulders.

Things were getting hopeless. They had been fighting battles one after the other for well over an hour now. Luca was tired and he knew the others must be exhausted even though they had no time to show it.

"We'll have to find the Hole today," Vale took the breath to say as she stopped to reload. "There will be no camp otherwise. We'll have to fight straight through the night."

"Is anyone getting the feeling that maybe this wasn't such a good idea?" Noobin was checking the gauge on his cannon for the tenth time. He growled and went fishing for another grenade from his belt. Luca agreed silently and almost demanded they head back toward civil ground.

He then noticed that Navazi was slowly moving ahead of them to the south, putting more space between them with each spell he cast. Luca tried to call him back but the lightning impacts drowned him out every time. Luca motioned for Noobin to watch his back and began to move after his straying teammate. Fiends moved immediately into the space between the now divided party, cutting Luca off from the majority of his defenders.

"Navazi, stop!" Still, the black mage floated off, throwing lightning and fire almost casually as he moved through the thinning trees toward the rock strewn joint cliff.

Luca barely heard Nikolas cry out his name in alarm but he didn't have time to respond. He was far too busy dodging and running through grasping talons and tentacles. One armored creature clipped his hip as he passed, spinning the young mechanic like a top. It was sheer luck that his metal staff caught in a crack in the ground and allowed him to keep his feet. He would have been crushed in moments otherwise. His whole side seemed to throb now, from his arm pit down to the end of his natural leg at the knee, the center of the pain of course burning in his hip.

Only fast limping allowed him to continue past boulders the size of small to medium sized houses. He broke through the rush of fiends as he came toward the cliffs edge and found it curious for a moment that the beasts did not follow him. How they seemed to be moving away from the cliff as though it was where they had come from. But only for a moment. Navazi was standing on the very edge of the joint, the road slanting north to his left and west to his right. He was on the very tip of this piece of land and was staring calmly at his feet.

Luca hobbled over, trying to see what was so damn fascinating and caught sight of a glint. He didn't have time to wonder and lead himself to a conclusion about what it could be because at that moment the ground buckled so hard that Luca's feet actually left the ground. He felt almost suspended until he spilled forward. To avoid busting his nose against the ground he turned his body . . . and took the fall on his bad hip instead. His scream was soundless. All around him, the rock shelf seemed to be trying to shake itself to pieces.

Not even fifteen feet from his right the ground exploded upward, spouting what seemed to be a green tree high into the air. This sudden tree was crested by long green and brown branches that whipped and curled about like clutching fingers. He stared up at it, having no idea what it could be. He glanced over to the black mage to see if the he might know only to see Navazi leap backwards, black robes flying, as a second tree thrust its way out of the ground. The fingers waved only an instant before one grew rigid and shot down at Navazi like an enemy's spear.

Navazi dove to the side, hitting the ground the same moment the finger pulverized the rock he had been standing on, piercing the solid ground easily and sinking in ten feet before pulling back out. The black mage made it onto his back and looked up just in time to roll. The second branch hit so close that it pinned the hem of his robe. In a flash, Navazi had a hidden knife in his hand and he sliced himself free only to roll once more to avoid the third impalement attempt.

The impacts happened one after the other, barely three seconds apart. Luca wondered in amazement how Navazi could move that fast in the full swaddling robes of the guado. A half second later he remembered the fingered tree that had sprung up near him. He looked back just in time to throw himself into a painful back roll. The rigid branch cracked into the ground between his crouched knees, a foot from making him REALLY regret coming to Djose.

" . . . Yesh!"

To make matters worse, the ground began to rumble again. It was now clear that the trees were actually two very large arms when the matching head cracked the ground and rose. The head was easily larger than the biggest boulder and appeared to be armored.

"Uh . . . Navazi . . . ?"

"Yes, Luca. I see it."

"Okay, good."


	27. Defying Gravity

Chapter 4 Part VII

Navazi called down a thunder bolt. The gigantic fiend shrieked in annoyance as the electricity fizzled out against the hard shell. Luca backed up further to make sure he was as far from the flailing branches as possible. The thing that scared him more at the moment was that the head of this thing completely blocked off access to everything else. He couldn't see his other guardians. He couldn't hear their battle cries. Not over Navazi's spells and the fiend's animated responses.

Fire, Ice and Water spells were even less effective. The ground was still convulsing beneath them as the majority of the creature's body was still hidden. Navazi tried spells Luca had never heard of, even one that absorbed all sound and left a disturbing moment of silence that popped his ears. Still, these did nothing but anger the fiend further.

The mage was thinking fast. Armored. Doesn't like lightning but armor protects it. It can't be armored straight through. Destroy armor. No piercing weapons. Nik's sword is on the other side. Something else . . . something else . . .

He looked down when a rock bumped his foot. He looked around at the other small and larger rocks bouncing around. The boulders brightened his eyes and he looked back up at the fiend. He glanced over to Luca to see that the High Summoner was a bit too close to the edge for his liking, but it was probably the safest place for him in regards to the fiend.

"Luca! Find a boulder and hold onto it!"

Luca did what he was told without question and Navazi began his spells. It was a bit experimental, mixing thundaga spells with a control spell and it might backfire and kill him, but he'd die anyway if he didn't. He didn't see any plausible reason not to do it.

Lifting one hand, he pulled one massive lightning stoke after another out of the sky. With the other hand, he used his control spell to grab hold of them the moment before they impacted. In moments he had four pockets of pure electricity floating before him. The hairs on his arms stood to attention and his robes filled with static. Okay, the easy part was done. Now came the part that could go so horrible wrong . . .

Navazi began to stir the pockets of lightning like carrots in a stew. Faster and faster he did this until gravity protested and broke. His robes began to float and his feet began to lift from the ground. Without much thought, he jammed the toe of one boot under a nearby boulder. He heard Luca cry out in astonishment somewhere behind him.

"Hold on!"

"Okay! I'm okay!"

As he moved the captured lightning faster in their stew pots, small pebbles and rocks began to float up from the ground, moving toward the electricity. They swirled around them in a slowly thickening shield of stone. The larger rocks began to tremble before they joined in as well. It was only a matter of time and power before even the boulders left the ground and his and Luca's anchors would be gone. He couldn't let this happen. This was where the precision of a highly skilled mage came in.

Sweat on his forehead, he pushed the pools of lightening away from his summoner and toward a large fall of boulders. He slowly eased the four globules together, waiting for the moment when they would simply explode and flash fry everything around them, until they became one large pool of light and power. He then forced it down upon the large rocks and began to lift them en masse off the ground.

With a careful lift of the hand, twelve house-sized boulders sprung up, lightning licking between them and scorching the uneven surfaces. They rose so high that they seemed to be the size of small stones before he slowed and stopped the ascent. Keeping one palm up, he turned the other down and dropped it quickly. Faster then something its size should move, a boulder shot downward, straight for the head of the fiend. It stuck with terrific force along a stitch in the armor. For the first time, the fiend shrieked in actual pain, its tree branches whipping out like ribbons. A second boulder followed and a third until they came raining down, cracking along every seam. When the last boulder had broken and its pieces had rolled to a stop, the armor was cracked open and the soft under skin was exposed. Its cries were pathetic to hear.

Luca, finding gravity restored, released his deathgrip on his boulder and limped toward the dying fiend. Pulling his rod back out, he extended it and began to sing his parting lullaby. The fiend convulsed in the ground at the sound of it, not wanting to give up the world.

"Luca, be careful," Navazi warned the High Summoner a split second before Luca was snatched into the air by the tree-arm. A thick finger whipped about, wrapping around his head and completely smothering him. He couldn't hear anything except his own rapidly beating heart. It was so dark that he might have been struck blind. Or maybe he was dead. That would be a downer.

Navazi was working on righting the situation when the arm he had thought he had been a safe distance from yanked him up into the air as well. The grip was debilitating and he had only a moment to comprehend a second finger jetting toward his head. He just barely met the leathery tentacle with the blade of his knife. The tentacle spasmed and writhed out of the way as another one moved to take its place. His blade bit deep into three more tentacles before they gave up on his head and decided to simply crush him to death. He cried out but managed a few shock spells that mercifully loosened the grip.

As soon as he could breathe properly, Navazi began to doublecast, calling down one Thundaga after another. They hit so fast that they fiend didn't have time to cry out. Navazi and the possibly unconscious Luca were waved about like banners as the fiend thrashed. The arm holding Navazi swung low and when the creature disintegrated into pyreflies, he only dropped and few feet and landed gracefully in a flutter of robes. Luca, unfortunately, was much higher in the air when the tentacles holding him vanished. He dropped like a stone.

Luca heard an, "Ow!" as he gasped and tried to clear his vision. He then politely rolled off whoever he had landed on. He felt legs trying to untangle with his and then hands on his shoulders.

"Damn, boy. I could have cracked my genius skull open on one of your legs. You mind as well have dropped a house on me."

Luca rubbed at his eyes and tried to calm his breathing. "Your skull isn't that genius, Noob."

"Why yes, you ARE welcome for breaking your fall with my soft, supple body, Luke. Don't mention it."

"Where's Navazi?"

Noobin sat back and straightened his goggles. "He's standing at the edge of the precipice and staring at his feet like an idiot."

Gasping, Luca scrambled around. He looked to the edge of the ocean just in time to see Navazi engulfed in light. It soared brightly upward as well as out to se. Apparently, the Farplane hole was ripped half way down the cliff face.

Noobin cried out and turned away quickly, burying his face in the ground. The goggles had overload and fed him so much information that it felt as though his skull was going to implode. Luca didn't turn away. He squinted something fierce, but he watched, transfixed. In a moment, a deep blue rune appeared around the irregular column and he forced his eyes wide to take in the design for as long as it lasted.

When the light faded, Navazi stood a bit unsteadily on what looked like a large piece of glass shoved into the side of the cliff. He turned carefully and looked at his summoner. The black mage said nothing but Luca nodded in affirmation and Navazi nodded back.

"I'm blind! Yevon, I'm blind!"

Luca turned back to where Noobin was holding his head miserably. He sighed and pulled Noobin's goggles from his eyes.

Noobin blinked, " . . . oh."

"They just shorted out."

"So it would appear," Noobin dragged them off his head and pouted down at them. "So what was that, anyway?"

"A new weapon for the High Summoner," Navazi spoke reverently as he walked over and offered his hand to Luca. Luca in turn offered his own to Noobin.

"We should get back. They're probably finishing off the rest of the fiends."

"Well," Noobin brushed the dirt from his pants, "that's assuming they haven't all been eaten."

"Who are YOU talking about?" Luca cocked his head in amusement. "Siddah, who can throw up an impenetrable shell? Nikolas who could slice through steel? Vale who could shoot Sin's eye out from a mile away, or maybe Gira who probably rips the heads of small animals just for the hell of it?"

" . . . Okay, so maybe they haven't been eaten."


	28. Island Getaway

Chapter V Part I

The four other guardians didn't ask what happened. They didn't ask why Luca was limping or why the fiends had thinned out enough for them to rest. They simply assumed. Siddah healed Luca's side and they continued on, heading west. They stopped in a few towns on their way, including Navan, and turned south again when the road allowed. Fiends attacked but they were few and far between. Nothing that compared to what they had faced on Djose road, so it seemed almost casual as they journeyed toward Mana.

Mana was one of those cities that sprawled out instead of up. It crawled over the entire lower peninsula of the main continent. A city of nearly one million, most of its wages came from designing and producing clothes. The wealthy from Zanarkand and Bevelle would spend insane amounts of money getting Mana clothing shipped to them before the first attack of Sin convinced the populace of the world that machines were things of evil. Since then, the prices of Mana clothing had sky rocketed, as each piece was now made by hand. The few shops on the very north edge of the city had ridiculous prices. Deeper in the heart of Mana, they were astronomical.

Luca was worried about the looks they were getting. Before it had been because a guado and a ronso out of their natural habitat was an incredible sight. And they obviously had an engineer too, as Noobin refused to refrain from using his goggles now. He thought it was pointless and he was probably right. But after Bevelle, he was worried the looks meant something else. Could word have reached the mercantile city ahead of them? The alternative path for Djose was a few days longer, but they had spent a lot of time on the fiend-infested road. And there were still faster ways of travel than walking even without using the condemned machine-powered vehicles. Chocobos, for instance.

No one approached them with guns and handcuffs, but the avoidance was clear. People relocated to the other side of the street just to avoid them. Luca only forgot his worry when he saw the construction going on down one of the main streets in the business district. "Is that . . . are they building a Blitzball arena?"

"Looks like it," Noobin zoomed his goggles in. "I'd say it'll be finished in a month's time."

"Cool . . . maybe we can see a game on the way back," Luca said with the hope and faith of a child. Noobin smiled at him but the rest remained silent and didn't spare a glance at the sports arena.

"The port is this way. It might be difficult finding a ship willing to take us to Kilika. Even more difficult to find one willing to take us from Kilika to Besaid," Nikolas pointed with the hilt of his sword and turned in that direction.

"But we have to go," Luca insisted. "They both have extreme fiend activity."

"And if we don't go, we'll have traveled most of this continent for nothing," Nikolas added.

"We'll go," Vale said patiently. "It may just be a few days before we take to sea. We should lay low until then."

They found themselves in a dock motel while Vale wandered the port looking for someone willing to take them to Kilika and Besaid beyond that. As she had guessed, it took more than a few days. By her fourth unsuccessfully day, Nik tagged along. By midmorning, they had a boat.

"You just need to know how to talk to sailors," Nik cracked open a new bottle of rum and took a swig. "Every other word has to be offensive or they just won't understand you."

"Well then, I've learned something new today," Vale nodded sagely.

"You know, I could teach you a few other things as well . . ."

"It's appreciated. No."

He shrugged with a smile, "just thought I'd offer."

- - -

They left for Kilika just as the sun was rising on the fifth day. After walking over so much land it was nice to sit back and travel the water ways. Nik immediately stripped off his armor and joined the men, at once at ease with the sea. Luca felt a little sick on the second day but he got better. Only Gira had real trouble. She kept to her cabin with the door locked and her portal covered. Everyone left her alone. Luca went down to check on her to hear her moaning and hissing, throwing things around in her sick frustration. He only checked on her once.

Three days later, land was sighted. The entire population of Kilika was crammed onto the southern half of the island. The northern half had been broken up and used as cement after Sin cracked the island in half. What was once the export side of the island was nothing more than large chunks of rock jutting out of dangerously shallow water. They went hours out of their way to be sure they didn't strike against ruined rock or sunken buildings.

The large bamboo barrier erected through the middle of the remaining island was twenty feet in height and built out some two hundred feet into the water on either side. Apparently, there was a generally accepted fear that the fiends would be smart enough to get their feet a little wet to get to the southern inhabitants.

Upon docking, children with rings of flowers ran up and welcomed them. Any tourist was a king on this suffering vacation island. They skittered around and Noobin just barely stopped one of them from grabbing and tugging on Gira's tail. It wasn't too hard for him to imagine the ronso spinning around, picking the child up by the throat and tossing the bugger so far that he sailed over the horizon. As it was, she only had to take a few steps and drop him for the kid to get soaked. The first half of the city was build on the docks over the water.

They moved through the dock streets looking for an inn. It wasn't hard. People stepped out to invite them in, to haggle a cheaper price than the place down the way. Luca eventually chose a small inn with the inn-keepers children playing out front. They look too thin for him.

Each room was its own floor in the bamboo tower of an inn. They got the second floor with a circle of ten beds and the ladder in the middle going down and up. Not surprisingly, they were the only guests. The inn-keeper's wife cooked a massive welcoming meal for them and as they sat down to dinner, they were asked a barrage of questions. It seemed to be up to Luca to answer carefully as the rest of them ate. His answers were very generic. Yes, we've been traveling. Yes, we got our ship in Mana. Yes, we've seen the Demon. We call it Sin.

It was the bright-eyed little daughter who asked the important question, "Are you a summoner?"

Luca blinked, "Why would you think that?"

"I dunno. You look like a summoner. And they could be your guardians. Can I play with your dog?"

Luca smiled, "Yeah, go ahead."

That seemed permission enough for all three kids to jump from the table and tackle the dog who had been minding its own business in the corner.

Their parents were laughing. "They're so curious and imaginative. A summoner! Really now, how ridiculous."

"I AM a summoner."

The inn-keepers stopped laughing and stared.

"And they ARE my guardians."

More staring. From the corner, a jubilant voice cried out, "Toldja so!"

Immediately the casual tone had dissipated and was replaced with quiet awe. Luca smiled, suddenly nervous for being known for what he truly was.

"You seem . . . very young for a summoner," the inn-keeper stated carefully.

"Oh yeah, Luke's an idiot-savant like that," Noobin said between gulps of sweetened water. They looked shocked and Luca frowned as his friend. Without looking up, Nik reached over and slapped the back of Noobin's head.

"Ow! Geez!"

"Don't mind him. He's my brother."

Their shock cleared into understanding. They understood warring sibling as they owned three themselves. "So if he is your brother, that means that you are an engineer."

Luca's chewing slowed and he forced himself to swallow a large chunk of meat. He put down his fork. "Yes, I am."

The inn-keeper leaned back and lit a pipe. "We haven't seen an engineer in these parts for fifteen years. Even before you folks were run out of your homes. We didn't get many vacationing on Kilika."

"The engineers were working-class. Not many could afford a vacation. Especially not one on Kilika Island."

"Vee, what was the name of that fellow that stayed here? He was pretty well off . . .oh! Cid!"

Luca and Noobin jumped a bit at the name of the Head Engineer.

"Cid. That was it. He was being paid pretty well, I suppose. He spent nearly a month here once."

Luca's eye twitched.

"Goodness, was he messy though!" the wife laughed. "The room was practically destroyed by the time he left."

Noobin snickered.

"So you are not mad that I'm an engineer?"

"No, son. One man's money is as good as the next and we've been suffering right along with all of Kilika. An island full of fiends isn't very good for business. We find it more interesting that you're an engineer summoner. I didn't think you put much stock in the magics."

"We don't," Noobin pointed out bluntly, moodily rubbing the back of his head.

Siddah leaned over. "Luca is naturally talented in the art." When she put her hand on his, he felt his face grow a bit hot.

"Can we ask what a summoner is doing here? We only have two ourselves and they're never here. We haven't seen them in, gosh, two years has it been?" His wife nodded in agreement.

"We're actually here to see to your fiend problem."

The inn-keeper chuckled, smoke escaping to the ceiling. "Funny. That's why our summoners ran away."

"Yes," his wife agreed, "but Lord Luca has a whole army of guardians, including a ronso. Surely he will overcome."

"Well, we hope to," Luca nodded humbly.

"Then you should go see the mayor tomorrow. The barrier doesn't open unless he gives the order. Just follow this dock all the way into town. His office is the largest building on Kilika. You can't miss it."

They thanked their hosts for their hospitality and retired early. They spent the night sharpening and cleaning their weapons as well as brushing up on spells. Noobin pushed two beds together just because he could and tinkered with his cannon. Luca sat and thought about his newest summon, the curves of the rune and wether he'd be able to cast it. He knew he would, but he was nervous.


	29. The Fourth Trial

The first part of this was suppose to go up BEFORE Lore and Lain went off to Italy and Greece for two weeks but stuff went crazy as hell the few days before hand. So instead of one section, this is three section in one. It's so nice to see everything in English . . .

Chapter V Part II

Only Luca, Vale and Navazi went to see the mayor the following day. They didn't want to terrify him by descending en masse. Luca carefully left his goggles behind.

The official office was somewhat of a change. Unlike most buildings on Kilika that are built one room atop the next, this building had rooms side by side, making it the shortest building in sight while taking up the most space. They weren't let in immediately but were told to wait in front of a few manually turned fans. The woman being paid to turn the fan was staring at Navazi in open amazement. He smiled at her once before closing his eyes to go over his spells again.

When they were called into the office, the mayor was wearing a floral patterned shirt with shortened pants, sandals and a light colored vest. Very tropical. "Welcome to our lovely island. What can I do for you?"

"I am Luca, summoner of Zanarkand. I am here on account of your abnormal fiend accounts."

The lines of the man's gaunt face deepened and made the youthful-looking clothes he wore seem ridiculous. "What does a summoner care nowadays?"

Luca frowned, "If I did not care, I would not be here."

"Our summoners left during the height of the attacks. They spoke of vanquishing the Demon as their boats sailed from our shores. We've tried to handle the situation ourselves and have lost more sons and daughters then I'd like to admit. Including two of my own."

Luca leaned forward in his chair, face pained, "I'm sorry for your loss, sir."

The man waved dismissively and moved on so as not to linger. "The summoners said they could not stop the fiends. That they would be as useless as our soldiers. They said they would stop the fiends by defeating the Demon."

"Well, I doubt stopping Sin would get rid of the fiends. The fiends are just dismissed summons that have escaped from the Farplane. All Sin did was let them out."

The mayor's dark eyebrows dropped nearly to his cheeks. He didn't seem to like this news. "So it's the summoner's fault that our land and livelihood is being ravaged by monsters."

"The summoners didn't know. They thought the summons simply disappeared as they had come. They didn't realize that they had gone some place that they could find a way out of. They didn't understand the rage that could build up in them for being used and discarded."

The mayor's laugh sounded tired, as if he hadn't slept in months. "And so, in your attempt to help rid us of our fiends, you'll summon more. Oh yes, that makes perfect sense to me." He pulled out a cigar, cut it, and lit it. The stench of it quickly filled the room as the blue smoke drifted toward the ceiling.

"I don't use summons," Luca's voice remained calm in his patience.

The mayor's eyebrows finally lifted, in amusement, "Is that so?"

"It is," Luca nodded. "I have six guardians who are trained to fight well without needing to be possessed by summons."

"Then why do you call yourself a summoner?"

"I summon other things."

The mayor found this cryptic. And suspicious. "What sort of other things."

"Weapons. Hopefully to defeat Sin."

The mayor snorted another laugh. This was likely the most laughing he had done since before Kilika's summoners had sailed away. "You summoners with your heads up your asses. You think you are so much better than everyone else. You thought you were better in the Mecha Wars then the young men and women who didn't have summoned monsters to hide behind. I'm surprised Yunalesca hasn't named herself Yevon yet!"

Luca sat quietly as the man ranted. Vale and Navazi stood silently to his sides, understanding as Luca did that this man needed this rant. He had every right to be angry. After the mayor had finished and started chewing moodily on the end of his cigar, Luca spoke, "Mr. Mayor, I have reason to believe that there is a hole in the Farplane somewhere on this island. I believe this is why the fiend numbers continue to rise. And I also believe I can close the hole if only you'll let me through that gate."

The mayor gave him a hard look. "You'll only get yourself killed."

"It's possible."

More staring. His eyes moved to the guado on one side and the dusty looking woman on the other. "I hope the rest of your guardians are ronso or something."

"One of them is."

The mayor blinked.

- - - - -

They left for the gate the next morning before the sun had a chance to rise. The horizon was bright with lightening color as the gate rolled aside and the High Summoner's party entered the hostile territory. Everything was quiet in the dawn and the forest looked quiet beautiful and peaceful. But after the gates crashed shut behind them, fiends came skittering out from the brush.

"This remains a bad idea," Noobin pointed as he shouldered his cannon.

"There's no other way to do it," Luca said grimly as he extended his staff.

They didn't move slowly through the forest in an attempt to destroy each cluster of fiends that attacked. They cut through quickly with Gira in the lead, leaving more battles behind than less. Many trees were dead and upturned and they had to jump or climb over fallen limbs and trunks. Luca stumbled more than once over the logs, his metal legs much heavier and difficult to pull up to clear the foliage. Nikolas fell into running behind and just beside Luca so he could grab him back up whenever he stumbled.

Gira tossed fiends into the woods without looking to see where they landed. They had a destination to reach and she refused to slow for even a moment. They reached the crack in the island an hour later, tired, hurt and about to drop. Only Gira still seemed to be in full battle mode.

The crack angled the ground away at a maddeningly steep angle and the other side wasn't much more that hunks of cracked rock left after the official implosion. The crack was half filled in with the imploded material and one would think that dumping half and island in it would successfully seal up anything down there. But even from the top, they would see fiends wiggling and squeezing out of the small places between the boulders. It looked like a hive, buzzing with activity. Both Luca and Nikolas were distracted by it, how wide and long the scar in the earth was.

"How the hell are you suppose to find the hole under of that? This island is miles wide. You can't possibly–!" Nikolas understandably cut off when a fiend slammed into him from behind, sending both tumbling down the steep incline toward the hive, armor and claws scraping.

"NIK!" Luca leaned forward with a wild face to watch Nikolas rolling away before he realized that he was perhaps too close to the edge as well. He spun around to dash further inland but a large body crashed into his chest. There was a moment of surreality: his arms pin-wheeled and there was no ground beneath his feet and only sky in his sight. Then his back slammed into the ground and he began to roll quickly downward. One second his back rolled, the next the fiend's back and on and on. When they hit the bottom, would he be okay or would he smash his skull against a rock? It was hard to tell how far he had yet to go before possibly being brained since the landscape passed before his eyes in a circular motion.

He just had to hope that WHAM! Just like that, he stopped moving. He sprawled suddenly across the smelly fur of the fiend that had been kind enough to take the impact for him. The fiend twitched feebly and Luca took what breath he still had in his lungs to send it. This was more then less a mistake because three fiends jumped on him from behind. He felt a quick searing pain across his scalp as some large hands grabbed him around the waist and squeezed. His fingers scrambled around for the staff that was still 50 feet above him on level ground and he tried desperately to turn and face his attackers.

Suddenly he felt one fiend leave his back and heard it howl in outrage. The a second one went flying over his head to smash on some boulders. When the hands of the third fiend disappeared, he was finally able to turn around and be glad that Nikolas was alright. But it wasn't Nikolas who had saved him and pulled him up from the ground.

"Can Luca smell it?"

"Smell what?" Luca asked the ronso as he pressed a hand into his hair and cringed when it came away bloody.

"Luca must come with Gira."

"Go where? I don't smell anythiIIIIIIIING!"

Gira grabbed Luca and threw him over her shoulder. He had time only to make an incoherent cry and grab onto the back of her chain belt before she took off on all fours over the piles of rock and debris. Luca couldn't do much but hold on and think so he was thinking about how much his head hurt and how bad he felt about the blood dripping down his ear and onto her back, turning her lovely fur purple. He felt her dodging attacks, even taking some hits, but she never once allowed Luca to be touched. She only cracked skulls when she could do it at high speed. Otherwise she ran straight through the ranks of fiends squeezing up from the underworld. Luca just held on and waited for it to be over.

When he finally felt her slow, he opened his eyes. She was moving around a certain area, sniffing and scratching at rocks. "What is it, Gira?"

"It is here. Gira must find way in." She gently deposited Luca to the uneven ground and tried pulling at one boulder, pushing at another.

Luca didn't question her further but waited for her to find what she was looking for. She had to stop many times to fight of fiends but the ones just squeezing out of the ground were easily dispatched by Luca as they were pretty well stuck while he sang them away. He worried about the others fighting wave after wave of monsters. Without him, they couldn't summon the amazing creatures lying dormant inside Siddah and Navazi. And Nik? Could he even be dead now? He felt frustrated just standing around while Gira sniffed at rocks but he waited. Surely she had caught the scent she had come here to find.

"Luca!"

Luca moved toward where she was crouching over a hole between three large rocks. ". . . What?" he asked slowly.

"Luca goes down there."

Luca looked down. He wasn't particularly claustrophobic, but he didn't take to the idea of climbing down into the earth and around cracks in boulders for the hell of it. "It's . . . down there?"

"Yes. Luca must go."

"But - - "

"Gira will help," her voice was suddenly and strangely gentle. "Do not be afraid."

He swallowed and looked up at her. With a large, soft hand, she wiped the blood from the side of his face and her facial twitches might have been an attempt at a reassuring smile. "High Summoner must be strong." She turned and moved to the ground. Without hesitation, she eased her way down into the hole, chain belt scraping. Luca was slower but she helped him down. It wasn't nearly as cramped as he had feared it would be because the stones were large and left large gaps in between them. Still, everywhere they turned was a broken ankle or a cave-in waiting to happen.

Many times they had to crawl on their bellies but sometimes they could move forward in a crouch. More than once, Luca wondered how Gira could fit because he was having some difficulty himself but learned that ronso, like regular cat creatures, were very flexible and could even stretch themselves thin.

Luca had no idea how deep they had gone but the close air was getting damp and, even worse, thin. The light had faded a while ago and to make sure he didn't lose Gira, he had to reach out and grab for her every few seconds. This led to a lot of groping that Luca simply couldn't handle. She didn't seem to mind but offered him her tail after his twentieth apology.

She stopped abruptly many times and the last time she stopped, Luca assumed she was just killing another fiend as before. But then he realized that he could see the shape of her shoulders from a light source ahead. When she looked back at him, the light from the Farplane Hole glowed in her eyes.

"Gira has found it!"

Luca grinned, "Yes! Well done!"

"Luca must move back."

Luca pushed himself back up the tunnel a bit as Gira moved into the glowing pool. In the stillness, he could hear a rumble. It took him a moment to realize that the ronso was purring.

He initially shut his eyes when the light filled his entire vision but forced them back open. The brilliant red rune stretched from peripheral to peripheral and he memorized it in an instant. When the light blinked off, it was pitch black. He could still hear her purring and in the dark, she grabbed him, hugged him, and stroked his hair fondly. She was warm in the cold tunnels so he didn't complain. And the fact that Gira was being affectionate blew him away.

"Gira . . . we have to get back. They'll be worried about us."

Gira let him go. Luca was pretty sure that this was one of those situations where she assumed he'd keep quiet about the hug. Or perhaps risk having his arms ripped off.

It was a bit of a squeeze as she repositioned herself around him, but they managed and she began to lead him back up by scent. The fiends down here seemed to have completely disappeared and it made for a quick journey back upwards.

They couldn't have been twenty feet from the sky when Luca felt the rocks around him begin to tremble. He stopped when Gira paused and waited for her instructions. The trembling stopped after a moment so they continued on, but less than ten seconds later the sound of a nearby cave-in was followed by more trembling which graduated to shuddering. The shuddering worsened and the cave-in sound became louder. Closer.

Luca smacked his lacerated scalp against a rock as the boulders began to jump around them.

"Gira!"

She turned like lightening and threw herself on top of him as their tunnel caved in. Luca couldn't feel the impact of the rocks but felt the pressure building up on his chest as Gira was crushed on top of him. It seemed like an eternity before the rumbling stopped and in the painful silence, Gira said not a word.

"G- - Gira . . ." Luca gasped, feeling himself using up the last of the air. He felt small pebbles bouncing off his head and smaller rocks and sand hissing as they sprinkled down toward the bottom of the crater.

"Gi . . plea . . ."

More sand spilled as Gira's shoulder shifted. For a moment he thought she was growling until he made out a word, " . . . rune . . ."

Luca frowned as panic began to take control of his lungs. He couldn't move either of his arms and only one of his hands had slight mobility. Would the rune work if it was so small and sloppily drawn?

What other choice do you have but to find out? Luca tried to stretch his left hand but only his pointer and middle finger moved. They should be enough. He concentrated on the rune until he could bring it to his oxygen deprived mind, then sent his fingers moving. Without seeing it, he had no way to know if he had made the loop too big or too small. If he'd missed a line entirely. He simply had to wiggle his fingers and hope.

His hope sprung to life when a red light began to flow from the vicinity of his hand. His fingers moved faster now, the summoner more sure of himself with each stroke. The moment he reached the end of it, brilliant red light flashed out, nearly blinding him.

Then it grew hot. Very hot. Very suddenly. His clothes were immediately soaked with sweat and the rocks around him grew hotter still. It was nearly to the point of pain when he felt Gira begin to shift and move above him. She became heavier, darker in the red light. Her growing body pushed him into the rocks below and he cried out, certain his chest would cave in.

The head of the creature who was no longer Gira turned and looked down at him. The eyes were smoldering coals, brilliant red in the dark fur of its face. They looked like the eyes of a demon but, even in Luca's fear and pain, he saw affection in them.

The summon rolled its arms around its High Summoner. Shifting beneath the rubble, it placed its large hind feet beneath it and heaved upward. The rocks flew away as it shoved itself upward until it finally broke the surface, soaring nearly twenty feet into the air with Luca in its arms. The air seemed cold in comparison to the being as they fell back earthward. The summon landed with an impact that cracked the rocks around it and no doubt started up another dozen cave-ins.

The rest of the guardians, including a live samurai, saw the exit and rushed over just in time to see the fire demon gently set the High Summoner on his feet.

"You really gotta stop doing that," Nikolas growled, eyeing the summon warily. "You gotta stop running off alone trying to save the world by yourself. It freaks us out."

"He must be there every time as a witness," Siddah said calmly but was obviously relieved that he was alright.

"Yeah fine, but next time he can take ALL of us with him so we don't have to keep thinking he's been drowned, suffocated or crushed."

"Alright," Luca smiled wearily, feeling his sides for damage. "I'll try to invite everyone next time."

The summon still loomed behind Luca, a beast nearly twelve feet high even hunched over. Black smoke billowed from its mouth and nostrils with each breath and its eyes gleamed with fire. The dark brown-black fur would catch fire in one place or another and then go out. Two long black horns crested five feet above its head.

Vale bowed to it, "We thank you, friend." The demon snorted and clawed at the rocks with a huge talon.

Siddah and Navazi were smiling in soft understanding and Noobin was trying to subtly take pictures of it with his goggles. The dog was hiding somewhere far away and Nikolas was frowning. "We appreciate it, but . . . Luca, can you send it away? It's kinda . . ."

" . . . Creepy," Noobin finished accurately.

"Yeah," Nik grunted.

Luca turned and the summon cocked its head in a very curious cat-like manner. He smiled and reached out, touching the snout. The nose was wet and hot enough that he couldn't touch it for long. "Thank you so much for joining our battle. Thank you for saving our lives. Please go and rest now until have need of your powers again."

The summon shook its fiery mane and bowed his head. The entire form burst into flames and everyone jumped quickly back, nearly pushed back from the heat. When the flames died, Gira stood quietly looking tired but no worse for the wear. Any injuries she had sustained during the cave-in had clearly been taken care of. She reached out and touched the blood in Luca's hair.

Siddah saw the blood and tsked. "Seriously, Luca, I should just cast a regen spell on you. It takes a lot of energy, but apparently it'll be worth it."

"You clumsy bastard," Noobin grinned.


	30. Digits

Chapter V Part III

Long before they had even emerged from the forest, the word had already spread: the fiends were dwindling. The soldiers patrolling the borders, use to having multiple replacements arrive for each fiend they killed, began to dispatch with a renewed vigor. Finally it felt as if they were making progress, and they were. The battle for the northern half of Kilika was turned in under an hour.

There was an escort waiting for Luca's party just inside the gate and they were lead immediately back to the office of the mayor. The mayor of Kilika seemed to have had a change of heart. There was no stubbornness or pride here. He immediately stood from his seat and embraced Luca like his own son.

"You did it! By Yevon, you did it, my boy!" the mayor's skinny arms were amazingly strong as he squeezed the respect out of Luca. Then he stood back and grasped the young man's shoulders. "How did you do it? How? Maybe I don't want to know. This will never be forgotten, I promise you."

The mayor then demanded that the summoner's party stay for three more days. The festivities were amazing. A far cry from being run the hell out of Bevelle with guns blazing, that's for sure. They were stuffed to the gills with food, Nikolas was constantly drunk off his ass (much to the chagrin of Vale) and Noobin may or may not have gotten lucky. Luca didn't ask and the engineer didn't tell. But he looked pretty pleased with himself.

When told that they wished to do the same miracle on Besaid as they had done for Kilika, the mayor immediately charted them a huge boat to sail them to the small abandoned island. He also offered ten of his personal soldiers but Luca thankfully declined the offer. Six lives on his head were already enough for him to worry about.

The trip took only a day and a half and the ship dropped anchor a ways off shore. It was only when the ship was still in the waters that Luca noticed the sounds and the tremors. Leaning over the sides of the boat, he saw the shadows of creatures in the water, smashing the bodies against the hull of the ship. Luca frowned down into the water. "That's not good. That's a very not-good sign."

Gira was even less pleased. She looked at the tender boat that they were told they'd have to get into to reach the island and she growled at the poor man unfortunate enough to tell her the news.

The tender boat was small but more than big enough for seven people and a dog. It took a bit of restraining to stop the dog from happily jumping into the water to play a bit. After its nose nearly got nipped off while it attempted the smell the surface of the water, it learned its lesson and curled up in the middle of the boat and whimpered.

They didn't bother using the oars. They would have been destroyed the second they were placed into the water. Instead they used the huge metal blade at the back of the boat, powered manually. They took turns turning the huge lever. Vale only used bullets when the water fiends were attempting to actually climb into the boat. Since there were only a few water fiends with actual arms to do so, this didn't happen too often. They got knocked around quite severely and would have lost Navazi over the edge once had Nikolas not grabbed the bottom on his robe and yanked him back to safety.

About fourty feet from where the blue water gave way to white sand, they had to abandon ship. Some of the larger land fiends had waded out and were now violently ripping the small boat apart. There was shooting and splashing and roaring. They were nearly up to their necks in the water and they made no progress toward the shore.

"This isn't going to work. We'll drown before we make it to shore!" Nikolas was doing badly. He was waving his katana above his head like an idiot and could only handle-whip anything that got close.

Siddah was having the worst luck, being the smallest of the group. She had to constantly hop on the soft sand to keep her head above water and the robes weighted her small frame down. "Luca, if you--"

The fiend probably hadn't done it intentionally, but it caught in Siddah's robes as it passed her to head for bigger prey. Her head disappeared so quick under the surface it was like she hadn't even been there. The eel-like fiend was caught quite well in the heavy folds and it ended up wrapping itself around Siddah in its frantic attempt to get free. Siddah felt herself being jerked around and dragged off. The water was as clear as day but moving erratically around her, throwing off her sense of up and down. She felt the spines running along the creature's back scraping against her skin as her chest began to empty of oxygen and fill with fear. This drowning thing was disturbingly familiar.

She felt talons grab her shoulder and begin to drag her off. . . or up. Her head broke the surface and she gasped the air in. Gira was lifting her mostly out of the water with one hand while she grabbed at the writhing eel in Siddah's robes with the other. When Gira got it mostly free, she dropped Siddah back in the water and broke the eel in half. Siddah felt her stomach turn a bit but didn't allow the moment to last. She needed to tell Luca what to do fast in case something happened to her again. "Luca! My summon!"

Luca looked over at her and met her eyes. She could tell he had been thinking the same thing. His white shirt had been shredded by some sharp-toothed fish fiend and there was more than a little blood on the fabric but he didn't seem concerned with it as he raised his hands above the water and began to cast Siddah's summoning rune.

Luca almost lost his concentration when Noobin cried out and began swearing at the top of his lungs. He couldn't take the time to ask what was wrong, he was too deep into the rune. Suddenly the water turned very cold and everyone cried out in shock. The fiends, every last one, skittered away from the area as quickly as they could. Now Nikolas was swearing as the surface of the water began to turn to slush.

"What the hell are you doing! You trying to freeze us where we stand?"

Luca didn't hear him. He was busy watching the Summon stepping out of the water on rising chunks of ice. As her foot set down on the surface, the water froze solid. The next step froze as well as did the next. Soon, there was a floating platform of ice and Siddah's Summon looked down at them all patiently, waiting.

"Climb up!" Luca called as he placed his freezing hands on the ice and began to haul himself up. Everyone clamored ungracefully up onto the frozen island of ice, gasping and shivering. But they were out of the water and the fiends were staying away from the chilly currents for the time being. Nikolas had stopped swearing but Noobin was still quite colorful. He was holding his left hand tightly to his chest.

"Noobin? Noobin, what happened?" Luca walked/slipped his way to his knees beside his friend. Noobin was shaking like the rest of them, but his face was covered in outrage.

"That damn FISH!"

"Fish? What fish?"

"You know, the one with the friggin' HUGE POINTY TEETH."

"Oh that one."

"Yeah, that one. It bit my damn fingers off."

"What?" Luca gasped in horror. "All of them? Let me see?" Luca had to pry Noobin's whole hand away to see the pinky and ring finger of Noobin's left hand gone as well as a fairly sizeable chunk of the middle finger. ". . . Shit. Okay," he looked down at his slashed shirt and grabbed a loose piece, ripping it away. He quickly wrapped it around Noobin's hand. "Does it hurt?"

"No, it's nicely frozen, just like the rest of me," Noobin said grimly through clenched teeth. "You know, you look at that little fish and you think, 'Oh, it's so small. Almost kinda cute. I can kill it in one hit.' Ha ha ha haNOOOO."

Luca sighed and helped Noobin up. Floating beside them in the water was Noobin's cannon, undamaged and frozen solid in a chunk of ice. "Oh great!" Noobin growled, tears of unbelievable frustration in his eyes. "Yeah, that's useful."

"It's okay Noobin. We'll come back for it later, alright?" Luca looked up at the Summon who turned and calmly began walking toward shore. They followed her ice bridge carefully, watching all the fiends skitter out of the freezing water in alarm. The sand hardened like cement as she landed and the rest of them moved away from the ice, trying to stamp feeling back into their feet.

Luca considered recalling the Summon, but with Noobin already out of fighting commission, he didn't want Siddah as weak as he knew she'd be when she returned. So he had the Summon walk before the group and freeze fiends as It saw them. She couldn't get all of them and the guardians did their own share of fighting. The island was small, but not small enough. There was no way of knowing where to go first. Yet, when Vale told Luca it was "this way", he wasn't surprised and he followed her without question.


	31. The Fifth Trial

Chapter V Part IV

"Okay, okay, we have to STOP."

The party slowed and stopped, looking back at Noobin. They all shifted, stamping their feet a bit. Their bodies were warm and tingling with returning circulation. For Noobin, the circulation brought pain with it. He held his diminished hand close to his stomach and bent low over himself as though he might lose his last meal. Luca crouched next to him, mechanical knees sighing. "We can't stop, Noobin."

"Well tough because I'm bloody stopping," Noobin growled. His face was pale except for the flushing along his cheekbones. Luca frowned and looked around for a place to sit. There were plenty. The island of Besaid had once been entirely lost by the city built atop it. Coast to coast and all around, Besaid had been a city seemingly floating on the water. Then Sin blew the city right out of existence. The ruined towers of the city were like broken teeth in a green mouth. The trees life and vegetation had exploded after the attack and flourished beyond imagination. The ruins added a sadness to the wild beauty of the island but it was hard to appreciate with the fiends running thick. Luca pulled Noobin over to what might have been a lamp post long fallen over and sat him down.

The guardians immediately fanned out, the Summon standing large and silently to the side, looking around contentedly with frozen eyes. They heard Gira growl as she broke the back of some kind of bird fiend and the screech as Vale's long knives sliced through a flan. Luca took Noobin's hand and slowly unwrapped it. He tried to keep the look of worry from his face as he examined it. He dropped the wrappings to the ground and pulled another piece of his shirt off and began to wrap his hand again.

"It hurts, Luca. Like you wouldn't believe," Noobin was shaking his head and his eyes seemed a bit too wide. Luca was worried he was going to start freaking out. He wouldn't blame the guy.

"Noobin, can you hold on a little longer? We have to find the Farplane hole and then I can bring Siddah back and she can heal you as best she can."

"Hey, I have a better idea. How about you tell her pet Aeon to build me a house of ice and I can just 'chill' out till you guys get back," Noobin growled. He was rocking slightly, curling up around his hand again.

"Aeon?"

"That's what you called them. You or Siddah or someone said they'd been around for aeons."

"Eons. It doesn't matter. We can't leave you here, Noob. Especially in a block of ice."

"And if I tell you to leave me behind?" Noobin snapped.

Luca flinched away, startled. "I'm not leaving you behind, even if you want me too. We'll move slower, alright? We'll go slow."

The creaking muscles of Noobin's jaw was audible as he struggled from exploding into curses. Luca sat very still, not sure what to do, not sure if he should be a little scared. Noobin didn't get mad easily. The pain and loss had impacted his emotions and Luca could see the instability in his brother's eyes. He sat very still even as he heard the battle of his guardians around him.

Noobin struggled silently with himself. He wanted to be able to freak out as anyone had the right to do when losing part of one's body to a random incident. He wanted to grabbed Luca by the shoulder and throw him to the ground. Tell him that he needed some time for HIS damn problems for once. Not everything revolves around you, oh great and wonderful High Summoner.

Instead, Noobin gritted his teeth until his gums hurt and then he stood up. "Fine. Let's go. And none of this slow stuff. The sooner we get there, the sooner we're done." He turned to look at Siddah's Summon with a nasty glare. "Mush, Aeon, mush!"

The Summon tilted its head at Noobin curiously and turned without protest. It began to walk and the rest of the guardians slowly closed ranks around Luca and Noobin, keeping them safe in the middle.

Vale directed them through a maze of jungle and stone. As the fiend attacks got stronger and thicker, they knew they were heading in the right direction. Everyone's eye was on Luca. No one was going to let him run off by himself or get lost again on their watch.

They saw what looked like a hill between the trees and approached it cautiously. As they got closer, they slowed. "Is that what I think it is?" Nikolas took a moment to wipe grey blood from his katana.

Gira grunted. Vale frowned. Navazi gazed forward thoughtfully. Luca stared.

"Well, since no one else is gonna say it, 'Yes, Nikolas, that IS what you think it is. It's a mountain of fiends.' " Noobin gave a brittle smile.

The fiends were crawling over themselves, screaming, roaring, slashing. A living, writhing hill of anger and indescribable hate. They were welling up out of the ground like water.

"The Farplane hole . . . it's under all that, isn't it?" Luca continued to stare.

Vale nodded, "Yes, it is."

"And hey look, now they're all come for us, en masse," Noobin sighed.

It was true. The moment one fiend caught hint of the them, the entire swarm turned and began crashing through the trees in a wave. The summoner's party began to back up, Navazi hurriedly calling down lightening, Vale emptying her guns in a matter of seconds.

"Luca, you have to do something," Noobin growled as he grabbed Luca's collar and began to run back the way they had come. "NOW. Do something NOW."

As the party ran, they could hear the scratching of claws and the scrambling of hooves. They heard the cracking of trees as they were hit by the wave of fiends. Luca could barely hear himself think as the panic began to mount. They were going to get crushed. Just simply crushed. All he could think to do was call out, "SIDDAH!"

The Summon hadn't moved. It stood there, looking to the crush of fiends in quiet contemplation. It noticed as its Summoner turned and ran but it did not follow. It was waiting for permission and it had just received it. As the fiends approached, the Aeon raised its hands, frost swirling through the air. It moved its long graceful arms around its head, spinning calmly as it performed some sort of spell. Then, as it threw its arms forward toward the fiends, a flow of ice cascaded over everything, coating trees, ruins and fiends in an unbiased slick of ice. There was sudden silence, sudden stillness, and the guardians slowed and turned back to see what had happened.

"Wow, check that out," Luca's whispered echoed rather loudly in the chilled silence. It seemed as though they'd suddenly found themselves back on the White Waste.

"Dammit, it's cold again," Noobin sighed.

It is a simple thing, to snap ones fingers. Yet, when the Aeon did it, the entire landscape seemed to explode. Everything frozen shattered into a million pieces. As the shards of ice fell, millions of pyreflies moaned and drifted upward.

"She just took all of them out," Nikolas' mouth was hanging open with no hope of closing.

Vale was the first to move. She holstered her pistols and began to run across the slick ground, cleared of all trees and enemies. "She only cleared the way. More will continue to climb out. We have to close the hole before they build up again."

Luca and the rest ran (slid) their way after the Dolian, kicking aside chunks of melting ice. The Aeon slowly walked after them. The shimmering pool of the Farplane hole was as obvious as it was enormous. It was easily the size of the Tear in Guadosalam, stretched out on the ground before them like a small lake.

"Luca, are you ready?" Vale called out as she raced straight for the Farplane at top speed.

"Yeah!" Luca slowed as they approached the edge. Already, fiends were climbing out of the glazed surface, scrambling into the real world with howls of rage. Ready to kill anything they saw. Gira, Nikolas and Navazi spread out quickly, keeping Luca in sight, and engaged the repopulating fiends as fiercely as they could. Noobin, having learned from the past, quickly yanked his goggles from his eyes.

The sudden light that emanated from the Farplane hole, as wide as the entire surface of the astral lake, could have easily turned night to day. As it was, it turned day into supernova. Even in mid-battle, the remaining guardians threw themselves to the ground as Noobin quickly turned his back. The ice Summon stood by silently, as uncaring as a ghost. Luca was fairly certain his eyes were being burned out of his head, but just as before, the rune, this one a glowing amber color, appeared before him, invading his mind, demanding his attention.

Luca found the ground before he found his sight. He must have fallen to his knees pretty hard because his thighs began to ache. He blinked down at his hands, trying to focus. Vale put her hand on his shoulder and helped him to his feet. "It is almost complete."

The rest of the guardians pulled themselves to their feet and looked at Luca in amazement. When no one said anything, he turned to Siddah's Summon and thanked it. The Summon nodded and melted away, replaced slowly by Siddah who needed her brother's arm to keep her from falling to the ground.

"Truly, with the powers within us and your ability to wield them, we will defeat Sin and save the generations after us from horror," Siddah sighed tiredly. Navazi rubbed her back.

"Yeah, that's just great," Noobin said with a frown.

"Noobin?"

"Yeah, oh yeah, everyone gets really kick-ass powerful creature-possession thingies and what do I get? WHAT? My damn fingers bitten off, that's what!"

Luca put an arm around his friends shoulder, "But you get to carry around that really cool cannon thing."

"Let's just see if I can work it with only eight fingers," he grumbled.


	32. Chapter 32

Author notes:

Author notes:

This is completely and utterly unacceptable. I simply stopped writing this story and I am really quite sad that I never continued. The journey is so close to being over.

Many years have passed since this fic was started and of course many things have changed in my life. Writing, however, still remains a large part of who I am and will no doubt continue to be so. I have a webcomic (my homepage) that takes up most of my creative time, aside from going to school and working just enough to pay rent on my new place. This is not an excuse but hopefully some of you might at least have some patience to understand why I abandoned this story as I did.

I recently rediscovered this fic. Rediscovered my own fan fiction as though I had nothing to do with it at all. It may be surprising, but I didn't even have the link for it and had to do a web search to even find it. By sheer chance, I remembered my password and was able to get into the system to write this. Maybe that is fate. Maybe I'm taking this too seriously. I'm not really sure why I suddenly remembered this story I was once writing and putting so much of myself into. I had been so sure this at least would be a story I would finish, because there were other people counting on me to see the ending through. Yet somehow, even that was not enough to goad me on to the conclusion.

I apologize. Even to this day I know exactly how this story will end but I didn't have the perseverance to put it in writing. For some reason, I simply did not finish.

I hope that somehow this story will be seen again and that more people will come to enjoy it as I struggle to finish it. I simply do not have the time to do this, but I will do it anyway. If you see this and notice the 31 chapters already written, please do not be daunted. If you have the time to spare, give the story a bit of it. Many people have enjoyed it and perhaps you will as well. The characters are original. Game characters are rare if not completely nonexistent and I know this isn't the biggest draw for most fan-fiction readers, but if you'd like to give it a try, I would appreciate it. It would be doing me a favor I certainly don't deserve but will hopefully propel me forward until I've reached the moment in which I have finished what I started years ago.

Leave comments or do not. Past author's notes beg for comments but I am not so desperate for attention now as I was. Ignore any previous comments if you so wish. They were written by young writers many years ago who no longer exist. Once I relearn this system, I will surely erase them. I only ask that, if you have a chance, to give this little fic a little read and enjoy it if you can.

I will finish it this time.

Lore


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